SC: Stolen puppy from Illinois turns up 5 years later in SC

Posted: Jan 13, 2014 11:58 AM EST Updated: Jan 13, 2014 2:24 PM EST


GREENVILLE, SC (WYFF) - A puppy stolen from an Illinois family has been reunited with its family after five years.

Dwayne Jackson got a call Sunday afternoon from the Greenville Humane Society Sunday asking him if he'd lost his dog.

He had. In 2008.

"I was shocked," said Jackson.

The employee verified Jackson was the rightful owner over the phone. His family then started the 600-mile drive to Greenville immediately.

Jackson's two adult pit bulls had the a litter of eight in Oct. 2008.

The family had the dogs microchipped.

Some of the dogs went to other family members. Others were going to stay with the Jackson family and the mom and dad dogs.

That all changed.

"We had them playing in the back yard and came out to check on them, said Jackson, "when we noticed two of them were gone. She was one of them."

Jackson and his fiancée searched for months at local shelters hoping she'd turn up.

She never did.

They kept up with her microchipping registry just in case.

On Sunday, Mona Lisa was brought into the Greenville Humane Society by a good Samaritan who found her with another dog, wandering around.

"What a testament to responsible pet ownership," said Kim Pitman, executive director of the Humane Society. "Some people are leery of getting their dogs microchipped, but it's the size of a grain of rice and doesn't hurt the animal."

Monday morning, the Jackson family was reunited with their beloved pet in the lobby of the humane society.

"She's beautiful," said Jackson. "She look just like her mom. The exact same. She has a twin sister, too."

Jackson's son is 2 years old. He'd never met Mona Lisa. The pair got along well.

"Everybody was like, ‘Are you planning to get her?,' and I was like, ‘It's my dog, of course!,'" said Jackson.

The family is taking her back to their home in Illinois. They plan to reunite her with her parents and siblings.

It is not known how Mona Lisa got to South Carolina. Her other sibling has not been located.



Video at link:
Stolen puppy from Illinois turns up 5 years later in SC - wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina |