Dogs are more than just pets ‒ they become family. We know our time is short with them so that makes it all the more special.
What we don’t expect is that time will be cut short because they go missing. And for one plucky 14-year-old pitbull, his first brush with running away led to an unbelievable reunion.
When Haze broke out of his owner’s backyard in Massachusetts, Jordian Maldonado didn’t think he’d ever see his dog again. The elderly dog had been with Maldonado since he was a puppy. And suddenly there was no trace of him anywhere in their neighborhood.
Maldonado contacted Missing Dogs Massachusetts, a nonprofit that helps locate lost animals. The group and Maldonado posted photos of Haze across social media in an effort to find the dog.
Maldonado was worried. “At the beginning, no one reported him and no one had seen him, and I had some bad thoughts. We had some cold nights, and I didn’t know if he had wandered into the woods or the train tracks.”
I had faith he was alive. For some reason, I figured someone took him,” he said.
Haze, a pitbull, is reunited with his owner. Photo from YouTube.
Having had the dog for 14 years, Maldonado said the thought of not seeing him again was heartbreaking. “It wasn’t how I expected to say my goodbyes to him,” he said.
But 30 days later, everything changed with one phone call from the Quincy Animal Shelter. The shelter, Maldonado found out, was more than 40 miles from his home.
A stranger found Haze and took him to the shelter to see if they could find his owner. The dog had somehow made his way to the town. Haze, who the shelter began calling ‘Eeyore’, was at the shelter for several weeks. After no one claimed him, the shelter put him up for adoption and then posted his photo online. That was Haze’s lucky break.
A volunteer with Missing Dogs Massachusetts, Jenny Scacca, saw the photo of Haze online. Comparing it with the photos of missing dogs she keeps on her phone, she immediately recognized Haze.
“I noticed the brown ears and thought it looked like it could be the same dog,” she said. “A volunteer called the family and they immediately thought it was him.
Haze jumps on his owner after being reunited. Photo from YouTube.
Maldonado sped toward the shelter and was immediately taken to see Haze. The video of the amazing moment the two were reunited was uploaded by the shelter and went viral.
“He was so excited to see me. He must have thought I abandoned him,” Maldonado said. “I’m really grateful for the people at the shelter who took care of him all that time. He was there for three weeks.”
He said he was very thankful to have Haze home. “I missed him so much. He’s always around me,” Maldonado said.
Scacca cautioned pet owners to remember that microchipping their pets is vitally important. She said vets or a shelter can then scan the chips and locate the pet’s owner quickly. Also, she said, owners should call animal control officers, as well as shelters, outside of the location you live in, since dogs can move quickly or get transferred out of your town.
“We’ll never know the real story of what happened to Haze and how he got there,” Scacca said. “If I didn’t see the adoption post, I don’t think he would be home right now.”
Watch the happy reunion below.
