We've all heard the cliched stories of an actor's struggles before a career breakthrough: living hand to mouth, waiting tables, temping, couch-surfing and generally scraping by before landing that major role.
The star of A Dog's Way Home has a hard-luck tale to top them all. Before her big break, she was living in a landfill, rummaging through garbage for her next meal.
Meet Shelby, the tan-and-black mutt who portrays Bella, occupying the screen, often solo, for much of the film's 97 minutes – and whose trash-to-riches saga could itself be a gripping cinematic yarn.
Shelby's big break came in April 2017, when animal control officer Megan Buhler was driving in Cheatham County, Tennessee, a rural area about 25 miles from Nashville. Out on an unrelated call, Buhler spotted and approached what she recalled was a noticeably skittish dog emerging from the dump.
