SAN DIEGO, CA — A woman reunited with her beloved lost dog Thursday in San Diego — a staggering 335 miles west of her Las Vegas home.
Debbie Ferris reunited with her pup named Ryder at the San Diego Humane Society’s El Cajon campus. The self-proclaimed “dog mom” was joined by Ryder’s “aunt” Darlene Hardee, as well as Ryder’s “best dog friend” Blondie.
“It feels so good to see him again,” Ferris told Patch. “I can’t even put it into words how excited we were to see him again. I’m so excited to have him back.”
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The 9-year-old Chihuahua-terrier mix went missing July 3 from his yard in Las Vegas. Ferris doesn’t know how Ryder got out — or how he got to California.
Ferris searched for her beloved pet for two weeks. She posted roughly 200 flyers around her neighborhood. She shared information about Ryder on Facebook, Nextdoor and other social media platforms.
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Finally, on Monday, she received a call from the San Diego Humane Society. Ryder was dropped off at the nonprofit’s El Cajon shelter after someone found the dog outside a Ross store in El Cajon.
“We were shocked. Very shocked,” Hardee told Patch. “OK, Ryder went on a road trip.”
Ferris adopted Ryder when he was just 3 weeks old. She even bottle-fed the pup.
As days rolled by, she began to lose hope she would see her “baby” again.
“I hoped to see him again, but after two weeks, it was looking like we weren’t going to see him again,” Ferris said. “So we were shocked when we got the phone call.”
Ryder had a microchip with up-to-date information, so the San Diego Humane Society’s lost and found team were able to quickly locate his family, who immediately started making plans to drive west and pick up the pup.
“This reunion is the perfect example why we want all pet owners to microchip their pets and keep the information up-to-date,” San Diego Humane Society spokesperson Nina Thompson told Patch. “Had it not been for the fact that Ryder was microchipped, we may have never been able to find Ryder’s family.”
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