A toy fox terrier who was discovered shivering and hungry under a shed in Pittsburgh turned out to be a very long way from home and had been lost for a very long time. Katheryn Strang last saw her dog, Dutchess, in 2007 in Orlando, Florida after the dog squeezed through an open door and ran away.
Strang searched and searched for Dutchess. She spent months putting up “lost dog” posters and visiting local shelters but she never found her. Twelve years later, she finally has Dutchess in her arms again, in a heartwarming reunion arranged by Humane Animal Rescue in Pittsburgh.
A man found Dutchess cowering under his shed. He took the tiny dog to Humane Animal Rescue who scanned her for a microchip. Dutchess’s microchip linked her to Strang, who had continued to pay to keep Dutchess’ microchip active all these years in the hopes that Dutchess may one day be found.
Katheryn Strang about to reunite with Dutchess at Humane Animal Rescue’s shelter
The shelter said that when Dutchess arrived at the shelter she was hungry and cold and a bit nervous and needed a nail trim, according to the Washington Post. But the 14-year-old dog was otherwise in good shape.
Strang was in disbelief when she got the phone call and immediately made the 11-hour, 1100 mile car ride to fetch her dog. She got emotional when she arrived at the shelter and saw Dutchess for the first time in over a decade.
“Dutchess. Hi, baby. I missed you,” Strang says in the video of their reunion, which was broadcast live by the shelter and filmed by local broadcasters. “Your face is all white.”
Staff members posted footage of the emotional reunion on Facebook, writing, “This is why we do what we do.”
Although no one knows where Dutchess has been for so many years, Strang can’t wait to bring her long lost dog home to introduce her to the other pets in her family.
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