A dog that had gone missing two years ago has been reunited with its owner in extraordinary circumstances – after being spotted on TV.
The amazing rediscovery happened in the US, when a man called Dwight spotted his long-lost pooch when watching Fox 6 News Milwaukee. The channel was showing its Adopt-A-Pet programme when the missing pet appeared.
Recognising his lost furry friend, named Payday, Dwight contacted the news agency, who arranged for the dog to be returned to him via the Wisconsin Human Society.
Posting on Facebook, the Humane society noted Dwight usually turned his TV off in the evening, but not on this occasion. It mused that it was “perhaps thanks to fate”.
Dwight had bought Paycheck to help his daughter through the process of bereavement after the death of a friend, and the family was delighted to get their dog back.
Of course, had a dog tracker chip been fitted to Paycheck, his lengthy disappearance might have been prevented, enabling the animal to be returned sooner.
Sadly, while this story had a happy ending, many others do not, with pets never being reunited with their owners and often spending a long time in kennels waiting for a new owner. Of course, if they do become someone else’s pet, they may not be willing to return them should the original owner somehow discover them.
A good example of a dog who was microchipped and therefore clearly identifiable was that of Uno, a Yorkshire Shih Tzu cross that ran away from his home in Swindon last November after being startled by fireworks.
The dog was found living as a stray over 100 miles away in Weymouth and was believed to have been living with someone else for part of that time. But, thanks to the chip, he was able to be identified and returned home.
Owner Theresa McGailey said: “The feeling was so immense, just happiness and relief that he was back, relief that there when nothing wrong with him.”
