Dog Goes Missing for Three Years, Turns Up 2000 Miles from Home
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36 commentsThe last time Peter Farmer saw his dog, he was merely a puppy. When he was just five months old he was stolen from Farmer’s back yard in Fayetteville.
“I came home and the gate was wide open, someone had unhooked the latch and he was gone,” he said.
For weeks Farmer and family searched for their chocolate lab Rivers, but to no avail. In time all hope was lost. Three years later, that hope has been restored in an extraordinary homecoming provided by an unexpected turn of fate. Apparently, River had jumped the border.
“Three years later, I got a phone call from Canada. He said, “Rivers” has been found. I went, “You’re kidding.”"
Rivers, re-named Buddy, had been living with an Oregon couple who had innocently adopted him through a friend. They lost him while visiting Calgary, Canada. He was eventually captured and turned over to animal services.
“We brought him in here and scanned him and sure enough, it had a microchip, which bounced to an address in Arkansas,” a shelter employee told KARK.
River’s current family heard the news and agreed that it was time for him to go back to his real home. On Tuesday he took a flight to Arkansas, back into the waiting arms of the Farmer family, who say they were elated to see him again after so much time had passed.
CTV attempted to interview River (Buddy) before his journey home. See the outcome in this cute outtake.
WOW….now THAT is loyalty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I heard about this on the news! Simply a miracle!!!
this is so cool.someone never gave up! i love it
I’m so happy he is home!! The video is way cute!!
iam egyption girl and my mum donot want to get me one of dogs i want SaintBernard dog
These stories NEVER cease to amaze me!! Wow! And the fact that the “new” family was willing to send him back after so much time? Beautiful! Those are special people. I hope they decided to adopt another dog!!
Watch the video, this is great. I don’t think the reporter was a dog person!
Oooohh man….).:
As wonderful as this story is…long lost dogs owners found, I believe the kindest thing to do for the dog as well as the two families involved is to let ‘Buddy’ stay with the family he knows. Assuming the Farmers got him at 2 months of age, they only had him for 3 months before he was stolen. The Oregon family is Buddy’s family, not the Farmers. The Farmers should have been happy that he was finally found and obviously in very good healthy, and allowed the Oregon couple to keep their dog.
Wow thats great
Love these happy endings to these stories! Thanks!
I am not sure that is right actually. He was only 5 months old and lived with the other family for several years.
..tend to agree with you, Diana.. then again, his Oregon-family semms to have given him up quite willingly?
Great story.
Buddy likes her!
Thanks for this story .People stole our dog Lobo,and drove him 70 miles away across the goldengate bridge.2 years later he made it home looking thin and ragged but home somehow on his own.Amazing .
Another reminder…DO NOT leave your dog alone in your back yard without supervision. There are folks out there stealing dogs. And especially do not leave your dog out in an unfenced area or out on a chain.
whoa
What power in such a little chip. Just shows how important it is to microchip your pet – the only thing that is positive proof of ownership
come on home Tabitha……..
I also feel bad for the Oregon family who had Buddy for three years. They were totally innocent and now their beloved dog is gone. I don’t trust individuals who sell dogs, I will do my homework to make sure there is no microchip. I’m happy for his first family but in the end someone got hurt.
Hope the rest of his life is happy and safe.
I agree with Deb… glad the original family finally knows what happened to “Rivers” but if I were them, I would have let “Buddy” stay with the only family he has really ever known… either way though, glad to see that Buddy seems happy and well loved…
P
Can you imagine this? I would be so heartbroken and constantly looking for my dog.
Considering the dog jumped ship in Canada, I’d say he was still hoping for a reunion with his original family. If the Farmers were willing to return him they must not have felt the same kind of ‘crazy dog lady’ commitment to their dog typical of someone like me! You’d have to pry my dog out of my cold, dead hands.
I agree, I think he wanted a reunion with his first family. So happy for him and hope he has a wonderful life.
Never loose faith!
You got that right! You never know what is around the corner. I love happy endings.
I live in calgary (where the dog was founf) and heard this story on the news here a few days ago, pretty increadible!
It is a great story!
It’s great that they found who the dog belonged to originally, how sad for the Oregon family that had raised him. Kudos to the original owners for getting the microchip. I just can’t believe that no one had scanned the dog before now though,
Omg amen! Phew I would have died, but thank god he is ok. I just love my dogs More than People
I wonder if there’s any way to track down the thief.
The bad part to all this is everyone is assuming he was stolen. What if some neighborhood kid opened the gate to play with rivers and forgot to to latch it back properly?! Either way, I do feel sorry for the Oregon family, however labs are pretty resilient and lovable animals. I have a feeling with lots of TLC, he will adapt to his new family!
A 5 month old pup shouldn’t have been left outside alone with no one home on the first place. The original owners, after this length of time, should have done the right thing by the dog, accepted some photos, and left “Buddy” with the family that has raised him.
Do people forget that this is a sentient creature- what was probably best for the dog gets lost in the urge for a ” feel good story”.