Dog missing for months
Jo Hodge burst into tears when she got a phone call from an animal shelter saying her stolen dog had been found.
The now 9-month-old cavoodle Bowie was taken from outside Burgerfuel in New Lynn, Auckland, on April 18.
Hodge was reunited with her at the Manukau Auckland Council shelter yesterday.
Hodge was driving back from Titirangi yesterday morning after checking out a possible sighting of Bowie when the shelter called her with the news.
‘‘I just burst into tears. I had to pull over because I was driving. ‘‘I said: are you sure it’s her? ‘‘Have you scanned her microchip? They said: yes, it’s definitely her.’’
Hodge said she was shaking and crying when she was reunited with Bowie.
Her first thoughts before picking her up for a cuddle was how ‘‘enormous and hairy’’ Bowie had become. Hodge said Bowie recognised her straight away and her whole body was ‘‘wagging’’ with excitement.
Hodge said she was thankful that whoever had Bowie during the three months had looked after her, and she was well-fed and her coat was not matted.
She said the shelter would be looking out for missing dog signs as it was possible that whoever had Bowie didn’t know she was stolen. Hodge said Bowie would never leave her sight again.
The animal shelter posted online that it had received a phone call on Tuesday night from a family who Bowie had followed home. ‘‘Due to her having a microchip the staff at the Manukau shelter searched all databases with her number this morning,’’ the post said.
‘‘Bowie’s mum Jo was contacted from this information, she was elated and came straight to the shelter.’’
Hodge had taken Bowie with her to pick up her order at Burgerfuel as she hadn’t been out of the house all day.
She tied the dog’s leash to a pole outside the restaurant and could see her through the window. Hodge said she turned towards the counter for 30 seconds but when she looked back for Bowie, she was gone.
‘‘Her lead was still attached to the pole, but it had been unclipped from her collar,’’ Hodge said at the time.
Police released footage of Bowie being taken in a bid to find out who was responsible.