A dog that went missing 12 years ago was finally found and reunited with his Arizona family.
Maricopa County Animal Control field officer Alyssa Sanford responded to a stray report and found the Bichon, via Fox News.
When scanning him for a chip, she found that it has not been updated since 2011 and left a message for the owners that the dog, named Minion.
Skip Crandall returned the call and stated, “I haven’t had that dog in over 12 years,” then he detailed how his pet had gone missing.
Sanford drove around 20 miles to bring the dog home without processing him. She also reminded Crandall of the Minion’s age so he didn’t expect the same playful puppy he once knew.
Crandall recalled, “He was a great little guy” but also detailed how Minion was curious and ran away one day when the backyard gate had been left open by mistake.
He and his wife had three school-aged children at the time and the family put up signs, asked neighbors, and contacted shelters seeking their dog to no avail.
After a month with no leads, the family realized that Minion may not be found.
Callie Crandall was 8-years-old when her dog went missing and noted after the reunion, “It definitely was super sad.”
“He was so playful and loved to sleep on my bed. We had a special bond,” she added.
Skip Crandall and his family weren’t sure how the reunion would go, but he said, “When they pulled up and we pulled him out of the truck, he recognized us and his tail started wagging.”
“He started trotting around and he went inside immediately and started playing with the other dogs. It was amazing,” he went on.
Callie also stated, “I walked in and he saw me and started jumping up and down and then came over and started crawling through my legs and everything.”
She added, “And then when I squatted down, he just climbed on top of me and started cuddling with me and everything. So it was definitely sweet to have that reunion.”