A family was recently reunited with their missing dog, who vanished from their backyard eight years ago.
Over the weekend, the dog was discovered in horrible condition at San Carlos Park. His family, who moved to Missouri, never thought they would see Harley again, forgetting that he was microchipped.
When Harley was just a few years old in 2014, his family moved out of the Lee County home. “I turned them out to go to the bathroom,” Betsy DeHaan said. “Turned my back for a second and they went off into the woods. And we went looking and never found Harley.”
“We searched and cruised and looked and put up posters and sent out the wanted, missing pet and just never stopped looking for him,” DeHaan said. She added, “I just want to tell him I’m so sorry that I didn’t find him,” said Betsy DeHaan.
Regardless of who took him in, Harley was never examined for the microchip, and the DeHaans were not found. But it was the microchip that finally united them.
Angie Bray helped them reunite. “I didn’t realize how bad it was until I actually got the dog,” said Angie Bray. “The dog was so sweet, super well-behaved. Seemed as happy as can be aside from being really skinny. He had some really overgrown nails,” Bray said.
A dog that looked like Harley was being walked along Barto Boulevard in San Carlos Park when she and her companion discovered him. “It made me cry. It was just so heartbreaking to think about being torn away from one of my animals who I just love and then being able to find them.”
Harley was taken to Cypress Lake Animal Hospital and Lee County Domestic Animal Services by Bray, and then through the microchip, they were able to locate his owner, DeHaan.
“We got the text on Saturday. And I’m like, is this a scam? Because we were talking about him that morning. You know, what an amazing dog and where could Harley be, is he still out there? And I got the text. And you know, you think Google always picks up on your advertisement? I’m like, this is a scam,” DeHaan said. “This is not real.”
To be with her beloved dog again, DeHaan drove 1,100 miles from Missouri to Lee County. DeHaan said Harley was a lot frailer than he was before. But now, he will be looked after very well and will never go hungry again.
