In 2008, the Long family of Grand Prairie, Texas, was devastated to discover their recently-adopted Siberian husky puppies had been stolen from their backyard. The family spent years wondering what could have happened to their beloved China and Asia. Were they alive? Were they safe? The Longs wrestled with uncertainties.
Twyla Long had convinced her husband to adopt the pair of pups on the day they were slated to be executed at a Fort Worth animal shelter. They already had one husky, and he was hesitant to increase their pack size. Unable to find the puppies a home in time, she finally won her husband over.
“The day they were scheduled to be euthanized I begged my husband and he said OK,” Twyla said. “I said, ‘Great, I’m sitting in their lobby now.’”
The huskies were microchipped as part of their adoption fees, and the family is thankful they were. When the puppies were stolen, the family reported them missing and hoped their microchips would aid in their return.
The Longs were thrilled when in 2010, they received a call that China had been found and scanned in Saginaw, TX, about a two-hour drive from their home. Her teeth were clean, and she appeared to be well-fed. It was apparent that someone had taken good care of her.
“She remembered exactly who we were. She picked up on life as if she never even left,” Twyla said.
The family was glad to have China back, but they still wondered what happened to Asia. They never gave up hope that they would recover both of their dogs. Twyla’s 15-year-old son volunteered at an animal shelter in Grand Prairie so he could see if any Siberian huskies brought in were one of his.
“Every time they [her children] would see a Siberian husky they wanted to scan it for a microchip,” Twyla said. “They wanted to make sure it wasn’t China or Asia.”
On September 21, the family was contacted by the Pulaski Animal Hospital in Chicago, 825 miles away. Asia had been found on the side of a highway near the airport. The Longs got in touch with Dog Runner Transport, who drove from West Virginia to pick up the husky in Chicago and bring her home to Texas.
“It was a huge sense of relief,” Twyla said. “We wish we could be a little speck on her brain so we could know what she has seen in the last four years and what she has been through.
“She came in our house last night and she went right to the back door like she knew the back door was there,” Twyla explained. “She’s not so friendly with her sister right now. They’re irritated with each other but we’re working them slowly back together.”
