T-bone, staffordshire terrier

It's a doggone miracle: Family's shock as pet pooch stolen five years ago is found... riding a No.37 bus
Staffie T-Bone was found on the Birmingham City Centre to Solihull route; microchip scan enabled him to be returned to his long-lost owner
By Andy Dolan
29th November 2011

When Pat Oates's dog vanished from the driveway five years ago she soon gave up hope of seeing the pet again.

As the days went by without any sighting of seven-year-old T-Bone, Miss Oates concluded the Staffordshire bull terrier had been stolen.

So she was astonished and overjoyed to be told last week that the dog had been found five years on – riding on her local bus.

Rover's return: Pat Oates (pictured with relatives) was stunned when she received a call saying her beloved Staffordshire bull terrier, T-Bone, had been found riding the Birmingham City Centre to Solihull route

The bus driver took the animal to a local veterinary surgery, where staff were able to reunite Miss Oates with her long-lost pet, now aged 12, after scanning his microchip.

Yesterday Miss Oates, 48, a delivery driver, said: 'We couldn't believe it when we got the phone call. I thought the vet was winding me up. I broke down crying. I wanted to get there as soon as I could.

'He vanished from the driveway in 2006. We put up posters and made some appeals in the press, but didn't have any luck.

'T-Bone is like one of our children. When he went missing, I couldn't sleep - it was a nightmare. The whole family was upset.

'We're over the moon to have him back, we thought he was gone for good.'

The mother-of-three, who lives with partner Tony Wellington, 50, near Solihull, West Midlands, said it was a mystery how the dog came to be travelling on the number 37 bus, operated by Travel West Midlands. The bus travels between Birmingham City Centre and Solihull.

But she said it was no surprise he had been found on a bus, as the dog always enjoyed going on car journeys with the family.

She added: 'No one saw who T-Bone was with. We will try to see if there's CCTV on the bus, but the trouble is the person could claim they'd only just picked him up.'

Home again: Pat Oates, from Solihull, West Midlands is delighted to have T-Bone back. Right, she holds the poster after her pet went missing in 2006 - when she feared T-Bone had been stolen to order by a callous gang looking to use him as a ferocious weapon

Miss Oates said T-Bone had been neglected and was suffering with a cyst on his leg and hearing trouble.

'The vet said to let him settle in first, but he will need treatment in future. It's a small price to pay, we are just glad to have him back,' she said.

Miss Oates, who has daughter Kelly, 28, and sons Elliot, 18 and Matthew, 25, from a previous relationship, says she plans to spoil T-Bone rotten this year.

'We have bought him a collar, as he didn't have one. He likes squeaky toys and balls. He likes pigs trotters, so we will get him some for this year.'

After five years without a dog, the family were reunited with T-Bone just a month after Miss Oates bought Mr Wellington a new puppy, Wrinkle, also a Staffordshire bull terrier, as a 50th birthday present.

Leigh Fisher, of 608 Vets, in Birmingham, where the dog was taken by the bus driver, said the case illustrated how important it was for owners to get pets microchipped.

'It also highlights the importance of taking any stray animal to a vet to have them scanned before choosing to adopt them,' she said.

'There may be a worried owner out there somewhere praying for their pet's safe return.'

Pat Oates and T-Bone after being reunited. Pat still had the dog's leash, five years later

According to the Dogs Trust, since microchipping was first introduced in 1989, more than four million dogs and cats have been fitted with a device.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2067132/Dog-miracle-Familys-shock-pet-pooch-stolen-years-ago--37-bus.html?ito=feeds-newsxml