In an extraordinary Christmas miracle, an Ohio woman and her family have been reunited with their stolen dog after 8 long years!
Junior the Pit Bull was just a puppy when he was stolen from his Barberton home during a home invasion in 2012.
However, mom Julia Nemeth never gave up on her search for Junior as she kept striving year after year to locate her best friend.
Source: Humane Society of Summit County/Facebook
Over the years, Julia scoured several shelter photos and missing dog pages in hopes of finding Junior. She even spotted Junior being sold online at one point of time, but the seller never responded to her queries.
The poor woman had no idea that her dear boy was actually situated with the Humane Society of Summit County for the past 2 years!
Junior was apparently surrendered to the shelter in 2018, and was being called “Buddy”. While “Buddy” was a staff favorite, he remained aloof with visitors.
He was sadly adopted and returned by 3 different families, which was a major source of concern for the shelter.
As fate would have it, Julia eventually spotted “Buddy” on the shelter’s website, and immediately knew he was her very own Junior!
Source: News 5 Cleveland
Junior’s unique facial pattern and birthmarks made it easy for Julia to verify her hunch on her shelter visit. But it was the now-senior dog’s touching reaction that sealed the deal for her.
During their reunion, Junior lingered over Julia’s face as he was gradually hit by a train of happy puppyhood memories. He then emotionally embraced her with the biggest licks and kisses! Aww!
Source: The Humane Society of Summit County/News 5 Cleveland
For Julia, having Junior by her side again feels very much unreal. She is surprised that the 9-year-old still remembers all the commands she taught him as a puppy.
Junior has cozily settled in with Julia’s growing kids and is finally back to being his original happy-go-lucky self. Looks like he was faithfully waiting to find “his” humans all these years!
Click the video below to watch how Junior found his way back home after suffering in silence for 8 years.
h/t News 5 Cleveland
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