89-year-old was ‘distraught’ when beloved dog went missing. Then came a joyful reunion
An 89-year-old man was “distraught” when his beloved dog went missing — then came a joyful reunion.
“Our volunteer reunited them and the happy tears were flowing,” Heart of the Foothills Animal Rescue in North Carolina wrote Sept. 9 on Facebook. “Chloe was so happy to be back with her family. She is a very loved girl!”
The heartwarming moment came more than a week after Chloe disappeared from her home. Her family has another dog who apparently opened a door, allowing Chloe to escape from her owner, according to Karen Ward-Linker, a volunteer with the Rutherford County rescue.
“He had been very, very distraught about her,” Ward-Linker told McClatchy News in a phone interview. “They’re just buddies. And she’s in his lap all the time, on the couch.”
Chloe, now about 7 or 8 years old, had been with her owner since she was a puppy. Days after she went missing in the rural mountains, the family feared whether she would be found safe.
Meanwhile, a woman living about 3 miles from Chloe’s home found a dog “all alone” on the roadside and started feeding her. The woman was a friend of Ward-Linker, who got the rescue involved and welcomed the dog into her home.
“She was so exhausted from being on the road,” Ward-Linker said. “So she just got up on the couch and crashed.”
The dog was dirty and confused after living outside. But the dog wasn’t skinny and seemed comfortable indoors, making Ward-Linker think she belonged to an owner. Then the next day, she got good news.
Before Ward-Linker could check for a microchip, she learned the dog was Chloe. The pup “had been missing for 9 days and owned by an elderly gentleman who was missing her so much,” the rescue wrote.
Now, Ward-Linker is encouraging people to get microchips, devices that store pet owners’ contact information in case their animals go missing. She also urges people to take lost dogs to a rescue or veterinarian’s office so they can check for a microchip.
The rescue is in Rutherfordton, a roughly 75-mile drive west from Charlotte.
This story was originally published September 12, 2024 at 3:26 PM with the headline "89-year-old was ‘distraught’ when beloved dog went missing. Then came a joyful reunion."
