It was a moment, said Elaine Greene, shelter employees always hope for. One that doesn’t happen often enough.
But perhaps adorable terrier mix Zeus is touched by the gods.
Earlier this week, he was reunited with his owner, Debi Petranck, who reported him missing from their home in Ocala, Fla. – roughly a thousand miles away – nearly two long years ago. Petranck, Greene said, had searched high and low when her pup went missing, placing ads and following leads to no avail.
“She was ecstatic when we called,” said Greene, executive director for Friends for the Dearborn Animal Shelter said in a statement.
The sweet reunion, captured on the above video, is a tearjerker.
“He knew me right off the bat!” Petranck told Detroit’s WWJ News Radio station, among other reporters on the scene. “My main worry – I didn’t know if Zeus would know me or not, but he walked in and knew …. Everything’s just the way we left it; we’ve just picked up right where we were.”
Petranck’s name came up when shelter employees checked Zeus for a microchip – common practice when animals are brought in as strays. It was later determined Zeus had been picked up by a Florida man who moved to Dearborn. Last week, Zeus got away from him.
“This is one of those rewarding occasions that a joyful reunion results from a stray dog being brought into our care,” Greene said.
Can you watch it without tearing up? We doubt it.
