SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California animal shelter was able to reunite a woman with her beloved pug that was lost six years ago in time for them to spend Thanksgiving together.
Sandra Campos never gave up hope that she would one day see Chato again. The pug ran off six years ago when she was visiting Davis, California, and was homeless at the time, KXTV reported.
Even when she moved to New Mexico, she kept his microchip information updated, which is how animal shelter workers were able to contact her when Chato was found Nov. 21 wandering near Highway 99.
“I kept putting flyers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, anywhere I could get people’s attention,” Campos said. “He was part of the family. He was part of me.”
Chato was taken to Front Street Animal Shelter in Sacramento. An employee at another shelter volunteered to transport Chato 17 hours to Campos. A nonprofit affiliated with the shelter paid the travel expenses.
“I don’t have anything under my Christmas tree. All I want is my dog under the tree,” Campos told KXTV.
The reunion is a rarity for animal shelters.
“Statistically in shelters, less than one out of three dogs and less than one out of ten cats is ever picked up by their owner, so it’s a great story and a Thanksgiving miracle for Chato,” Ryan Hindermann, of Front Street Animal Shelter, told KXTV.