His family was distraught, but they never gave up hope that their beloved dog would return.
When someone found Harley, the pup was underweight with overgrown nails. Despite everything, the puppy remained cheerful and affectionate. His story ends happily, teaching families who have lost dogs not to give up hope.
Missing for eight years.
Betsy Dehaan allowed her dogs to do their business outside her Florida house in February 2014. When she looked away, they dashed into the neighbouring woods, leaving Harley nowhere to be found. Dehaan hoped that someone would find the pup and scan his microchip because Harley was only a few years old at the time.
Unfortunately, years went by with no sightings. Harley was gone for eight years, but his family never forgot about him. Dehaan was reminiscing about Harley and praising what a wonderful dog he was when she received an unusual phone call.
Someone texted Dehaan to inform her that they had found her lost dog and that he was at Lee County Domestic Animal Services. At first, Dehaan thought it was a joke.
"I was like, 'Is this a scam?' "Because we were talking about him that morning," Dehaan said. "I got the text, and you know how you think Google always catches up with your ads? I am like, "This is a scam." "This isn't real."
An unbelievable surprise.
But that wasn't a trick. Harley was the actual name of the dog at the Florida shelter. The very malnourished pup was found by Angie Bray, who rushed him to Cypress Lake Animal hospital. Dehaan's number was found after someone scanned Harley's microchip.
"It made me cry." "It was absolutely horrible to think about being separated from my animals and unable to find them," Bray said.
When Harley went missing, Dehann migrated from Florida to Missouri, but she refused to give up. She drove nearly 1,000 miles to pick him up and was in tears before ever seeing him.
Harley's tail wagged wildly when a staff member carried him out near his mother, and he gave her multiple kisses. He's much older than the last time Dehaan met him, yet he's still full of love to give.
Watch the emotional reunion here.