Anyone who has ever had a family pet runaway knows what a frightening, heartbreaking experience it can be, especially if you're never able to find the missing pet again.

That was presumably the case for the George family, from Ucross, WY, until they were reunited with their lost dog this week after it had been missing for a total of three years.

KSFY TV is reporting the missing dog story dates back to August of 2015 in Burlington, Iowa, when BJ George and his wife Jennifer were forced to take a business trip to Burlington. Jennifer didn't want to kennel their dog Ginger, so they decided to bring the dog along on the trip. While staying at a house they were renting on the trip, the dog got out and went missing. Within 15 minutes of the dog escaping the Georges were on the streets of Burlington searching for Ginger, to no avail. As KSFY reports, they never caught a glimpse of the animal. Jennifer even stayed behind and searched for Ginger for days with the help of people living in Burlington, but they never found her, she was gone.

Now flash forward three years, to meet a person named Kandi Glick. According to KSFY, Glick runs the Des Moines County Regional Humane Society.

Glick recently started receiving a number of phone calls about a stray dog in the area. People reported seeing the dog running loose, while others said they spotted what looked like a deceased dog. Glick decided to investigate and went to the spot where the deceased dog was reportedly at, only to find no dog. That inspired Glick to create a trap using hot dogs to hopefully capture the stray animal everyone had seen. The idea worked, as Glick caught a stray dog on Saturday, (June 9) in Des Moines. She then began to scour a missing pets page she runs on social media, and lo and behold there was a post with a phone number from the George family from three years ago.

Glick reached out to the George family, who mind you were somewhat skeptical of the call. You see the Georges had received a number of calls and emails like this before. But come to find out, this call would end up being different. As KSFY reports, after describing and taking a picture of the missing dog who now had a much larger coat and body than she did three years ago, the Georges just weren't sure this dog was their missing Ginger.

Glick made the decision to take the dog to be groomed, that move was the key to finally being able to positively identify Ginger. Jennifer George remembered that Ginger was wearing a purple and lime green collar the day she went missing. A trip to the groomers revealed a faded purple and lime green collar on the dog Glick had found. It was Ginger after all.

Glick is still amazed that Ginger was able to survive on her own for a period of three years. She figures the dog made it by drinking the water people washed their cars with, and by eating scraps of food that were in peoples trash cans, and in dumpsters at places like McDonald's, Burger King, and Taco Bell. Regardless of how it happened, it's a miracle nonetheless.

Now for the best part of the story, after Glicks phone call, the two parties decided to meet up in Sioux Falls for the big family reunion.

According to KSFY, Jennifer George and her 10-year-old daughter Samantha made the eight-hour trek from Ucross, Wyoming to Sioux Falls, while Kandi Glick and her boyfriend Grant drove up from Iowa.

The best family reunion ever took place in a Sioux Falls hotel room on Wednesday. KSFY says that Ginger was a little confused at first, but after about 45 seconds, she recognized Samantha and started to get cozy with both her and Jennifer, offering plenty of love and kisses.

Three years of heartbreak was finally over thanks to an angel, named Kandi Glick.

Source: KSFY TV


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