Dog who went missing 2 years ago found as stray, reunites with military family thanks to volunteers

It’s always heartbreaking when a pet goes missing, but it’s important to not lose hope: sometimes our long-lost pets reappear when we least expect them.

Recently, one family got miraculous news as their dog was found two years after he went missing, setting the stage for an inspiring, long-overdue reunion ❤️

In 2022, a family dog named Bear went missing from his home in Colorado Springs, Colorado, after his owners left him with a pet sitter.

“That was the hardest part… going home after I had left him with the sitter and then coming home to not having my dog,” owner Brandy Ross recalled to KRDO.

The family searched everywhere but found no sign of Bear. When the military family relocated to New York soon after, all hope seemed lost that they would see Bear again.

But two years later, everything changed. Locals in Colorado Springs began reporting sightings of a matted stray dog this summer, and volunteers began a mission to rescue the dog.

Over two weeks, the volunteers placed food in a large trap, and set up game trail cameras to monitor him. Meanwhile staff at the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region began to suspect that the stray might actually be Bear, the dog who went missing in this same area 2 years ago.

On August 18, the volunteers caught the dog in the trap — and a microchip confirmed it was indeed Bear, finally rescued after all this time. HSPPR alerted the family and said the owners were “crying tears of happiness.”

“The whole night I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, is this my dog?’ And then she read the numbers and she’s like, ‘It’s him.’ And I was like, ‘No way.’ And I was literally bawling my eyes out,” Brandy Ross told KRDO. “Even now I’m in shock that this is him.”

It’s not clear what Bear has been up to these past two years. The rescuers said that while he was matted, dirty and underweight, he had no health issues.

Reuniting Bear with his family was no small task, as they have moved across the country to New York. But thankfully, the Colorado volunteers stepped up yet again, taking care of everything.

According to a post from HSPPR, the volunteers took him for a much-needed grooming, took him to the vet for his shots, and arranged a flight to New York, generously paid for by members of the community.

“This story touches our hearts in a way that you probably couldn’t imagine,” the humane society wrote on Facebook, thanking the volunteers for their hard work and generosity.

“It all paid off in the end because Bear is finally going to see his people again! Thank you to every single person who has been a part of Bear’s story. It’s an incredible one!

We’re so glad Bear is home after being missing for two years! Thank you to all the kind volunteers who helped make this sweet reunion possible!

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