A woman in New York received the surprise of a lifetime when she discovered that her missing senior dog had been found by actress Hilary Swank.
Swank was filming in Albany for an undisclosed project when a roaming dog happened upon the set.
What could have easily been a sad day for a dedicated dog parent turned into a meet-and-greet with an Academy Award-winning actress and fellow dog lover.
Blue’s Celebrity Rescue
Actress Hilary Swank reunites Albany woman with her lost dog https://t.co/DQ7w5whkAs pic.twitter.com/YWGBTpqe19
— New York Post (@nypost) June 9, 2022
According to her Facebook post about the event, Chelsea Blackwell, a resident of Albany, was about an hour into her search for her 15-year-old Dachshund, Blue, when she happened upon several police cars blocking a set.
“I noticed there were like eight police cars and people with cameras. I thought maybe somebody got shot,” she said. Desperate, Blackwell stopped and asked if anyone had seen a small, brown dog.
A cameraman for the project informed Blackwell that they had indeed seen Blue, who was picked up by “a celebrity.” About an hour later, Swank pulled up in a car with Blue perched on her lap.
Thankful and starstruck, Blackwell asked if she could have the actor’s autograph. It was Swank who insisted that the three of them take a photo to remember the day instead.
Swank’s History With Rescue Pups
Swank is not just a good Samaritan. She also founded Hilaroo, a foundation that aims to “bring together youth that have been given up on, with animals who have been abandoned, to help heal one another through rescue, rehabilitation, and responsibility training.”
The name is a portmanteau of Hilary and Karoo, one of Swank’s own rescue dogs.
Swank is also no stranger to finding dogs on film sets. She found Karoo while filming a scene for Red Dust in South Africa. “I don’t know if I found this dog, or the dog found me,” says Swank.
For more information about The Hilaroo Foundation, visit their website here.
Did you know Hilary Swank was a dog lover? Has your dog ever had a celebrity encounter like this one? Share it in the comments below!
