A dog that went missing for seven years was reunited with its family.
An animal shelter has shared a sweet story about Jazzy the dog, who was reunited with her owners seven years after running away.
Orange County Animal Services – which is based in Florida – revealed Jazzy was discovered over 1,280km away from her home state of Texas last month.
When she was found, the poor little pooch had been left behind a hotel in Florida and could barely walk.
The team at the Orlando animal shelter were shocked when they scanned Jazzy’s microchip and managed to track down her owners in Texas.
Unsurprisingly, her owners were over the moon when they got the call and got on the next flight from Texas to Florida to be reunited with Jazzy.
Owner Kerry explained that her pet had run away from home seven years ago on fireworks night after getting spooked.
She searched for Jazzy for a long time but with no luck, admitting she ‘never gave up hope’ that they would be reunited one day.
If that wasn’t emotional enough, apparently Jazzy recognised Kerry and the family immediately even after seven years apart.
The shelter said it was ‘incredible to watch Jazzy come to life at her owner’s voice’ and he licked Kerry’s hand ‘again and again’.
“We’ve had reunions that brought together families and pets that were apart for maybe a few years,” Bryant Almeida, the public information officer for Orange County Animal Services told the BBC.
“For a dog, seven years is practically a lifetime.”
Jazzy’s family have no idea how their dog ended up in Orlando or what she had been doing for the past few years.
Unfortunately, Jazzy developed arthritis and could barely stand up when she was found.
But after some TLC, she is now walking and even running around the house.
In a sweet Facebook post, the staff at Orange County Animal Services wrote: “Our staff and volunteers have to endure heartache and heartbreak every day. Every now and then though, we get to watch something like this, and it makes every minute worth it.
“If we could bottle this type of love and give it to every adopter, we would. If we could write a happy ending like this for every one of our animals, we would.”
