Family Left in Disbelief When Pup Missing for 8 Months Turns Up 200 Miles Away from Home
Losing a pet is one of the most terrifying experiences a pet owner can have. Once you’ve checked in every room and closet, looked under all the beds and scouted the backyard without turning up your four-legged friend, your heart sinks.
Some animals are fortunate enough to wander to friendly neighbors or be picked up by a good, animal-loving Samaritan, but the longer a pet is missing, the more likely they’ll never return.
Miraculously, Kaiser was returned to his family eight long — but he’d been gone for 8 months. That’s a long time to be missing a furry member of your family, and the 8-year-old German shepherd mix had only been spotted a handful of times since his disappearance on June 23, 2018.
It’s impossible to know exactly what transpired during Kaiser’s disappearance, but rescue volunteers have been able to piece together some of his story.
“Amazing news out of Bethel Maine,” Missing Dogs of Massachusetts wrote on Facebook on Feb. 15. “MDM was contacted earlier this week by Maine Lost Dog Recovery about a dog that was trapped in Bethel Maine. Kaiser went missing in Ashby Mass in June 2018. There were a few sightings early on, but then the trail went cold.”
“A woman’s freezer in Bethel had died and she put out $160 of meat on her porch. The next morning she went out and half the meat was gone and that is when she saw Kaiser. She fed him for 3 weeks more and then contacted Animal Control who trapped him.
“The boarding facility where he went missing from in Ashby Mass never gave up hope and saw their posting of this found dog on Maine Lost Dog, so they reached out to the shelter. From there, Kaisers owners were contacted.”
Responsible Pet Care of Oxford Hills posted their end of the story as well.
“Let me tell you a story, it’s a fantastic story about never giving up.”
“On 2/06/19 a stray dog was brought into the shelter, a kind Samaritan had been feeding the dog for 3 to 4 weeks but was unable to get close enough to catch him. He was timid, shy, and nobody really knew where he came from.”
“A trap was set and the dog was finally caught and brought into Responsible Pet Care. We scanned him for a microchip like we always do, and checked-the collar for tags, nothing! Then his picture was posted on Facebook.”
“We called him “Grizz” , and Grizz is a looker!!!! so we had A TON of comments, shares, likes and people who are willing to give this giant, magnificent animal a new chance at life. But, we had to wait to see if he would be claimed or not.”
“Day 5 came of his stray hold and we got a call from a lady in Massachusetts, saying she was watching this dog for about 6 hrs when he slipped his lead and took off, the last sighting was about 75 miles away from where she was located, that was 8 MONTHS AGO IN MASSACHUSETTS!!”
To ensure that Kaiser was actually their dog, the rescue asked them to describe any unique features, and they supplied all the correct answers. The rescue also tested out the name “Kaiser” with the pup, and he “turned into a completely different dog.”
His owner went to pick him up, and a video was posted of their reunion. It’s clear that at first Kaiser isn’t so sure who this new person is, but after a few moments, the cautious, 100-pound fluff of dog melts into a puddle of happy waggles.
Many viewers have criticized the owner’s seeming lack of emotions, but MDM came to his defense, explaining that he had to stand still and let Kaiser come to him so that he could smell him and remember him without getting scared off (he was, after all, timid — which is why they’d had to trap him in the first place).
“The owner was very excited,” MDM wrote. “Contrary to how it may look, the owner was crying himself during the video but knew Kaiser needed time to recognize him to feel comfortable.”
Thanks to some good, caring people, Kaiser is back with his family. Hopefully, he’ll keep his adventures limited to the backyard from now on!
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