It seems as though one brave dog has been having a “Planes, Trains & Automobiles” style adventure recently.
Last summer, a woman posted to an online message board that her dog, Mishka, had gone missing. When she and her daughter were out of town, her husband had been bringing the dog to work and it somehow got away, she said.
According to her post, the dog was last seen in the San Diego, Calif., area. When Mishka showed up again, it was more than eight months later and 2,000 miles away in Harper Woods, Mich.
In a video posted to Facebook April 3, the Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society (GPAAS) explained how she was discovered.
“This is a story you are really going to want to hear and see,” said the video’s caption. “This is a tale that Hollywood would love to tell.”
GPAAS said that a woman contacted the Harper Woods Police Department March 28 about a stray dog in her neighborhood. An officer was dispatched to collect the canine and brought her to the adoption society as part of their municipal contract with the shelter.
There, Mishka was scanned for a microchip. This scan revealed that she was part of the Houman family from San Diego, the same family that posted about their missing pet last summer.
If the family had been home, it would have taken roughly 34 hours to drive to the shelter and pick up Mishka. As luck would have it, they were only around 10 hours away in Minneapolis, Minn., to celebrate Easter when the call from GPAAS came in.
Mehrad Houman, Mishka’s dad, drove to pick up their long-lost pet. She first needed a vet visit before they could bring her on a plane back to California, but she did eventually make it home.
Not much is known about Mishka’s adventures before she was discovered in Michigan. However, CNN did create a map of her journey and anchors there speculated that it involved hitching a ride at some point and possibly a scary cat.
GPAAS said the tale is a good example of why pet owners should have their dogs and cats microchipped, and why it is important to call local law enforcement to help with apparently stray animals.
“PLEASE watch this knowing that the process works,” said the video caption.