Dog News

Thanksgiving Miracle: Family Reunites with Missing Dog After Three Years

by Amy Drew

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Three years ago, Bill Gerstein, who would take his little dog, Bella, to work with him in Ft. Lauderdale each day, got distracted while letting her outside. And despite a long, frantic search, it seemed the Maltese-Pomeranian had disappeared for good.

But after all this time: a Thanksgiving miracle.

Bella turned up Tuesday in a New Jersey animal shelter and was identified by her microchip. “Within 10 minutes I booked a flight on Spirit, my wife drove me to Fort Lauderdale Airport and I was on my way,” Gerstein, who lives in Delray Beach, told WPTV.

“I wish that she talked, I wish she was wearing a go pro or something like that because she has some story to tell,” he said.

All Gerstein knows about Bella’s past three years was that a New Jersey family cared for her for about nine months this year before she ran away and landed in the shelter.

“I picked her up she was shaking uncontrollably for 10 minutes,” Gerstein told WPTV. “I think she was in shock that we were reunited.”

He and his family are thrilled to have their little girl back.