KIRO-TV in Seattle is reporting that AEW commentator Tony Schiavone told the television station that a chance encounter with a rescue dog backstage at an AEW event led him to a cross-country adoption from Monroe (Washington) based Motley Zoo Animal Rescue.
Schiavone said that it all started when now former AEW star Saraya arrived backstage at a show with a Chihuahua-beagle mix. Saraya told Schiavone the dog came from Motley Zoo in Washington, where her boyfriend had adopted it for her. The next time AEW held a show in the Seattle area, Schiavone reached out to the zoo.
Pate, the zoo’s Director went to Schiavone’s hotel to show him some of the adoptable dogs. However the specific litter that Saraya’s dog came from was already adopted out. Schiavone browsed the rescue’s website and came across a small dog resembling the Chihuahua that he had recently lost, then telling Pate he was “going to get” that dog.
KIRO TV notes that Schiavone used his frequent flyer miles to fly from Georgia to Seattle, then traveling to Monroe by Uber, to adopt a dog named Dobby – all in just one day.
Schiavone told KIRO that Dobby has been his “little buddy ever since”, follows him all around the house and will not even go upstairs at bedtime unless he is there.
Wanting to see Motley Zoo prosper, Schiavone donates monthly to the non-profit.
Schiavone also told KIRO TV that he has fallen in love with the Seattle area and has visited the rescue multiple times.
He also talked about how he broke into the pro wrestling business through Jim Ross and returning to calling matches with AEW in 2019, after having been gone from the business after WCW was bought out by WWE in 2001.
AEW held a live episode of Collision last Saturday at the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, just 30 minuets south of Seattle. AEW is holding a live episode of Dynamite, followed by a Collision taping at the same venue this Wednesday.