NEAR CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WSVN) — A visually impaired dog from South Florida who became lost was reunited with his owner hundreds of miles and several states away.
Rudy Torres flew more than 700 miles from his South Florida home to Huntersville, North Carolina, to be reunited with his precious Yorkie, Captain Jack, earlier this weekend.
“Oh, my God. I feel like it’s a Christmas miracle,” said Torres, as he held his pet, who was dressed up in a Santa costume.
Torres said the 11-year-old dog, who is blind, went missing from the backyard and was snatched off the street.
Lucky for Jack, Adela Diaz found him wandering a street — hundreds of miles from home.
“I see it in the road, in the middle of the road,” said Diaz. “A big truck almost hit him, and when I hear the noise of the tire, I stop and I park, and I went to get it.”
Diaz took Jack to PetSmart to check for a microchip. Then she brought him home and called her neighbor Maria to help her track down the Yorkie’s family.
“I was getting nowhere. First of all, it was the weekend. I couldn’t get ahold of anyone,” said Maria. “Certain shelters were saying, ‘Just bring him in,’ and we said, ‘No, he’s got to stay here. We have to find the owner.'”
Maria called an animal shelter in Fort Myers where the outdated chip was listed. An operator gave her the owner’s information, and she called him and asked if he was missing a dog.
“He described the dog, and I told him, ‘Well, we have Jack,’ and as you can imagine, he started — I could almost sense that he was very emotional,” said Maria. “I got emotional, and he asked, ‘Where is the dog?’ And I said, ‘Huntersville, North Carolina.'”
“I was kind of in disbelief, you know?” said Torres. “These people find your dog, and they call you from 800 miles away, ‘I’ve got your dog.’ Well, how did Jack get there? I mean, what adventure was he on?”
Torres offered Maria and Diaz reward money, but they declined. “Never, nunca, nunca” said Diaz.
“No, no, no, no, no, no,” said Maria.
Instead, Torres gave them pastries brought all the way from Florida.
“I’m very grateful. Our family’s very grateful,” Torres said to the good Samaritans.
“We would do it all over again, too,” said Maria.
“I’m still in shock. Thank you,” said Torres as he and Diaz raised wine glasses to celebrate the heartwarming reunion.
Diaz and Maria said that, as animal lovers, they are thrilled that Captain Jack will go back to his family, where he belongs.
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