DETROIT — A dog missing in California since the summer has been found more than 3,000 miles away in a Detroit suburb.
Harper Woods police responded to a call about a stray dog last week, adopted the terrier mix and contacted animal welfare groups.
The Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society said it was quickly determined that the dog, named Mishka, had been implanted with an identification chip containing information about its owner.
Merad Homan and his family live in San Diego, but were planning a trip to Minnesota when they got the call. He arrived there and drove 10 hours to Minnesota to be reunited with Mischka, the adoption group said in a Facebook post with photos and video. .
“This is the story Hollywood wants to tell,” the group said.
Mischka wandered away from Homan's workplace, an auto repair shop, in July and never returned. On her collar was her family's phone number.
“We believe it was stolen, sold and ended up in Michigan,” said Colin Martin, director of the animal rights group.
“It's been an amazing journey,” said Homan's wife, Elizabeth.
“I never gave up,” she said Thursday. “We put up over a thousand flyers. We had a flyer on the windshield behind her. We always had her on a leash when we looked for her. … Now I wonder how she got to Michigan.” I just want to know if you came.”
Veterinarian Nancy Pillsbury examined 3-year-old Mishka, gave her a rabies shot, and allowed her to return to California.
“She was clean and well-fed. Whoever kept her took good care of her,” Pillsbury told The Associated Press. “How she got here is a story only Mishka knows.”
