Calhoun’s Big Adventure

Written By: David Stroud - Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society | Issue: May 2024

We all like to think that the pampered pets in our household are in the “lap of luxury.” We would like to introduce you to a shelter pet who actually lived it.

Calhoun is an eight-year-old hound dog who we rescued last summer after he was found as a stray in Hendersonville.

After spending the remainder of summer, fall and winter at our no-kill shelter, Calhoun was selected to be 2024’s first foster-dog-in-residence at the luxurious Park on Main hotel in Highlands.

But Calhoun was far from the first shelter dog resident at the hotel. Our unique foster partnership with The Park on Main began way back in 2015. Over the past near-decade, more than two dozen canines from CHHS have stayed at this beautiful dog-friendly hotel and as a result, met their new family and found their forever home.

That’s just how it worked for Calhoun. After seven months in our compassionate care, Calhoun checked in to The Park on Main earlier this year. The staff at the hotel gave this senior dog the royal treatment, with an Orvis orthopedic dog bed, clean, pure water and the very best food in MacKenzie-Childs ceramic bowls, snacking on gourmet grain-free dog treats, romping in their very own exclusive dog park, and 24-hour human companionship, including interacting with animal-loving visitors from all across the globe.

One of those animal lovers, Sydney from Nashville, stayed at The Park on Main with her boyfriend, and Calhoun spent the night with them in their room. Because she didn’t want to make an impulse decision about adoption, she went home to think about it. What she discovered was that she couldn’t get Calhoun off her mind. Over the next few weeks Sydney communicated with CHHS staff and once the paperwork was completed, plans were put in place.

Calhoun’s Big Adventure started with a round of tearful goodbyes with hotel staff and then on-camera interviews with the crew from ABC News in Asheville. The news crew followed Calhoun and CHHS staff to Sugarloaf Mountain Park in Benton, Tennessee, a beautiful spot about halfway between Highlands and Nashville. At the park Sydney was reunited with the dog she couldn’t stop thinking about, and that afternoon they drove off together for their forever home and a fairytale ending to Calhoun’s Big Adventure.

Established in 1987, Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit animal welfare organization located at 200 Gable Drive in Sapphire, one-and-a-half miles east of the Cashiers Ingles in between Cedar Creek Club and Lonesome Valley on Highway 64. Our no-kill shelter is open Tuesday-Saturday 10:00-4:00 P.M. For more information, call (828)743-5752 or email [email protected]. Tax-deductible donations to support our lifesaving work can be mailed to: CHHS, P.O. Box 638, Cashiers, NC 28717.