'Mixture of joy and sadness': Terrier that went missing for 11 years miraculously renunited with family
HARPENDEN, ENGLAND: Exactly 12 years after going missing in the UK as a young puppy, a little border terrier has miraculously been reunited with her owner. Missie, a puppy that Liz Eldridge, 51, had got for her son Oscar as a birthday present, mysteriously disappeared from their Hertfordshire home in February 2011.
As per Daily Mail, Eldridge drove across the country for the following eight years to find the cherished dog. The dog had a microchip, but because she went missing so quickly after getting to Eldridge's house, it still bore the breeder's identity. Eldridge, a National Health Service employee in the UK, gradually lost hope and accepted the possibility that Missie had been stolen. Her luck, however, changed when she learned Missie had been found by a person on November 15 and was handed to an animal shelter.
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Missie has now been reunited with her owners in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, as per New York Post. “It was a mixture of pure joy but also sadness. As Missie was in a terrible state,” Eldridge reportedly said.
“She had obviously been used constantly for breeding and was very nervous and timid. We believe she had been kept on a chain and beaten. Every time I went to put a leash on, she was so scared,” she added. Eldridge said that Missie was already exhibiting signs of improvement after being cared for a week. “Her tail is starting to wag and hopefully she’s beginning to realize she’s back home safe and sound,” she said.
Eldridge also requested pet owners to microchip their animals. “I hadn’t got round to changing the breeder’s details to mine so there were a few complications,” she said, “‘We got there in the end, but I’d like this to be a lesson to all owners to remember to update their pets’ details. It only takes a few minutes, but it’s vitally important and could mean the difference between finding your pet or losing it forever.”
Missie isn't the only puppy discovered years later. A dog in the UK was found in October by a good samaritan, running between cars and was brought to a local veterinarian. The dog had gone missing 300 miles away seven years earlier.