Lost dog reunites with family states away from home

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A nine-year-old four-legged pet landed itself hundreds of miles from home.

From Coral Springs, Florida to Wilmington, North Carolina, one family is excited to be reunited with their dog that has been missing for more than a year.

The lost dog named Princess ran away from her home back in September 2016 and because of her microchip the New Hanover County Animal Shelter was able to track down her family but to everyone’s surprise the dog was from states away.

Now only Princess knows how she ended up in Wilmington, but the owner’s father picked her up Friday morning. The family said they never thought they would never see their dog again are still shocked.

“This little baby here belongs to my granddaughters, it’s not my dog. I love my dogs, it’s just like my kids but I love her,” Gelson Cardoso, a family member, said. “Look at her! She looks like she remembers me. It’s just amazing she knows she is going home, you’re going home. It’s very emotional.”

Cardoso, the owner’s father face-timed his daughter-in-law who says she cannot wait to have her back where she belongs. But they admit they were skeptical at first.

“Everybody lost any hope, a year and a half later how we ever going to figure that out,” Cardoso said.

The shelter supervisor Nancy Ryan said in her 22 years of working there she has never seen any reunion quite like this one. She said this is why microchipping is so important.

“That is our goal, to reunite those animals with their owners and if that can’t happen adopt them out. But I would want that done with my pet. If somebody found my pet I would want them to take it somewhere and have it scanned,” Ryan said.

The story of how Princess ended up so far from home only she knows, but she is wagging her tail all the way back to the sunshine state.