Tessa, terrier

Dog feared eaten by coyotes reunited with family FOUR YEARS after she vanished
By Tom Gardner
20 June 2012

A cherished family dog feared killed by coyotes has returned home – four years after going missing.

Distraught Sophie Roorda, now 11, never quite came to terms with losing her three-year-old little black and white terrier, even with the passing years.

And to her utter amazement, she has been reunited with her beloved Tessa after the pet was discovered wandering in the wilderness near the family home in Barnhart, St Louis.

Reunited: Sophie Roorda has been reunited with her dog Tessa after four years thanks to an implanted identification chip

A family spotted the stray animal looking thin and disheveled and took her to a nearby animal sanctuary.
Staff at Webster Groves Animal Hospital found a microchip with her owner's contact information.

Sophie’s father Jeff Roorda, picked up the dog last week, told stltoday.com: ‘She came right to me when I called her name. She seemed pretty happy to see me.

‘It would be fascinating to find out how she got from Barnhart to Webster Groves and what happened in the last four years.’

Angel Venegoni, the animal hospital's administrator said her hospital regularly reunites microchipped pets with owners, but four years could be a record for them.

Sophie’s parents had tried to fill the void left by missing Tessa and bought the sixth-grader a cat, Jayda, and a Shih Tzu named Jazzie.

Nancy Roorda said: ‘We got her to replace Tessa. At that time, my father and Sophie's great-grandmother had passed away and then the dog disappeared, so it was a really rough time for her.’

And a month ago her treasured cat also went missing. Its remains were discovered near a coyote den near their home, which appeared to confirm the theory that the same fate had befallen Tessa.

That was until they received a call from the animal hospital saying their pet had not in fact been eaten by wild dogs.

Reunited Tessa has not struggled getting reacquainted with her old domestic life, climbing in to her favourite arm of the family's couch as if no time had passed.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2161979/Dog-feared-eaten-coyotes-reunited-family-YEARS-went-missing.html