A toy fox terrier that disappeared from her family’s Florida home in 2007 has been found over a thousand miles away in Pittsburgh and reunited with her owner.
The 14-year-old named Dutchess was found hungry and shivering under a shed on Monday, according to an animal rescue charity.
The property owner took the dog to a Humane Animal Rescue centre, where staff were able to locate a microchip and trace the animal to its owners in Boca Raton, Florida.
Katheryn Strang drove all the way to Pittsburgh for an emotional reunion with Dutchess .
Boca Raton, Florida, is about 1,130 miles from Pittsburgh.
Ms Strang said she could not believe it when she got the call that her dog had been found after all these years.
She said her son opened the door after school one day and Dutchess got out and they never saw her again.
They were living in Orlando at the time near a very busy street and she assumed the dog was either hit or picked up by someone.
She checked shelters daily in the weeks after Dutchess went missing, and continued to pay the annual fee on the microchip, as well as update her contact information whenever she moved.
“They are like your babies. You don’t give up hope,” she said at a news conference after reuniting with Dutchess.
As she kissed and hugged her long-lost pet, she murmured to the dog: “Where have you been?”
