Man Who Swore He'd Never Stop Looking For His Lost Dog Finally Finds Him After 4 Years
In 2016, Michael Joy experienced every dog owner's worst nightmare. His three beloved dogs got loose and went missing.
Two of the dogs returned, but Sam, the 4-month-old Lab cross, was still nowhere to be found. Michael checked all the local shelters and searched everywhere for Sam, but had no luck.
“I told my wife, ‘Hey, I’m gonna find this dog,’” Michael said. “I never stopped; I always— I even still follow the shelters’ pages just in case he shows up.”
Michael and his family eventually moved to Kentucky, but he never gave up hope that Sam was out there somewhere. He made regular trips back to their previous home in Georgia, hoping that Sam might still turn up there.
Almost five years passed and Michael still hadn't been able to find Sam.
But then one day, out of nowhere, Michael received a call from City Dogs Cleveland.
“She said, ‘We have Sam.’ In the back of my mind, I’m thinking, ‘This can’t be the same Sam!’” Michael recalled.
“This is Ohio! This is, like, almost to Michigan!”
“So I asked, ‘Can you describe him for me?’ And she said, ‘He’s a lighter-haired dog,’ and I replied, ‘Where are you and when can I pick him up?’”
The shelter had given Sam a medical exam, and in the process, they scanned him and found his microchip. They were then able to trace him back to the Joy family.
Michael drove eight hours to Ohio that same day, hoping that Sam would still remember him. Both Michael and Sam had changed a lot over those years.
“As we got there and I was waiting for them to bring Sam out, you could see the anticipation on my face. I felt like a kid on Christmas,” Michael said.
Sam was just as excited as Michael! He couldn't stop wagging his tail and jumping all over his dad.
It's safe to say that Michael won't be letting Sam out of his sight again anytime soon!
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