BENECIA, Calif. — It turns out that reports of Zoey’s death were greatly exaggerated, and a northern California family is celebrating their long-lost pup after a 12-year separation.
According to KCRA, San Joaquin Animal Services responded to a Feb. 10 call about an older, possibly unwell stray dog that had been dropped off on a rural property outside of Stockton.
Animal Service Officer Brandon Levin scanned the stray’s tracking chip and was shocked to discover that Zoey had been reported missing from Lafayette in 2010, NBC News reported.
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“We got her at the pound when she was 6 months old with her twin sister... They were with us for about six months, and then we went to the store for about 20 minutes and came back, and she was missing,” Zoey’s owner, identified by KCRA only as Michelle, said in the reunion video shared by the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office.
Zoey’s owners now live in Benicia but fortunately kept the same phone number all these years, allowing Levin to track them down and arrange a reunion in Rio Vista. Watch video of the reunion below:
According to animal services, Zoey had been missing for so long that in 2015 the microchip company listed her as “deceased” in their records, KCRA reported.
“I didn’t expect this to ever happen,” Michelle said. “Excited to get her back, get her healthy and let her live the rest of her life.”