Dog returns home 10 years after running away

A dog that was believed to be dead after suddenly vanishing 10 years ago has been reunited with its owner after being found alive and well.

Debra Suierveld said she had accepted her black Labrador mix, Abby, was gone for good after it went missing from her home a decade ago.

She told the Tribune Review that she and her family had “mourned” their pet, after Abby wandered off while playing with her children outside their house in Pennsylvania, USA.

But she received a call from the Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley shelter, who had tracked her down via the dog’s microchip. Abby had been listed as deceased by the vet who had micro chipped her.

“She kind of came back from the dead,” Ms Suierveld told the newspaper. She said her daughter Carly, now a student a Miami University, Ohio had wept upon being told her childhood pet had returned.

“My kids all want to know if she answers to her name,” Suierveld added, saying she was delighted to learn that she did.

She said the dog was found about 10 miles from her former home on the front porch of a woman named Judy Spiering, who contacted the police about the discovery.

They, in turn, called the animal shelter, which reunited Abby with Ms Suierveld.

She said the Labrador was “happy”, apparently having been well taken care of in her decade of absence, most probably living in another home.

Now relatively elderly at 13 years old, vets say the dog now has a greying snout and some fatty deposits, but is otherwise in “very good shape”.