Dog Lost In Virginia 8 Years Ago Found 3,000 Miles Away In Yuba County

December 2, 2011 5:05 PM

YUBA COUNTY (CBS13) — A Virginia family may have their long-lost dog back in time for the holidays after a terrier found nearly 3,000 miles away in rural Yuba County was traced back to them.

An Oregon woman, Meg Eden, was working with her dogs in the Spenceville Wildlife Area near Beale Air Force Base on Wednesday when she found what appeared to be a stray American Staffordshire terrier and pit bull mix, according to the Yuba County Sheriff’s Department.

“She was very thirsty and very hungry when I found her,” Eden told CBS13. “I’m just happy she took the right fork in the road and found me.”

She cared for the dog overnight and then turned it in to Yuba County Animal Care Services. Staff there did the usual intake process, including scanning for a microchip, and a chip was indeed registered to a clinic in Virginia for an American Staffordshire terrier, the sheriff’s department said.

The clinic contacted Kristen Pruitt of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and she called Yuba County Animal Care Services and confirmed that her family dog, Petunia, had been missing since 2003.

“It was just amazing to me,” said Animal Care Service’s Deborah Lewis. “I kept saying, ‘You’re in Virginia? Because we’re in California.’”

Pruitt and family are anxious for the reunion.

“I’m curious if she’ll remember us,” Pruitt told CBS13′s Ben Sosenko. “She was my husband’s dog. It brings tears to your eyes, it really does. I’ll give her a kiss and a hug.”

Petunia, then 3 years old, went missing from the family farm the Saturday after Thanksgiving that year, according to Pruitt. The family conducted a large search for Petunia but never located her. They have an 8-year-old daughter who was 5 months old when Petunia went missing.

Animal Care Services staff sent Pruitt a photograph of the dog and she was positive the dog was Petunia. Animal Care Services will now assist Pruitt with the process of returning Petunia to her Virginia home, the sheriff’s department said.

Pruitt said the family plans to fly the dog home in the next few days.

Dog Lost In Virginia 8 Years Ago Found 3,000 Miles Away In Yuba County

Ted Huss

Theft of purebred dogs is not uncommon. This dog was probably stolen and resold several times. Very luck she wasn’t sold to an experimental lab, which is quite common in some areas. I had a purebread Golden Retriever stolen out of a vet’s kennel in 1973. Broke my heart. Never did get her back.

Today, with dopers, thugs, transients and others a larger portion of our culture, this sort of thing is more common. Congratulations on getting the dog back. Kudos for using the chip..
Kathy Fawley Frankforter

Yes, KUDOS for using the chip and being responsible. I am so happy your dog is coming home to you. Cute name “Petunia”
Thomas Houck

Reading the comments here, and on on other sites, it is amazing the number of people who do not know the correct usgae of the words; there, they’re and their.

beachteacher

oh, so true, so true : (

URFULOFIT

Staffordshire / pit bull….tomato / tomato. A staffordshire is nothing but a pit bull that is LOST and they want the neighbors to help find him. The flyers on telephone polls never ask for help finding a pit. BUT….when they’re selling puppies in the Walmart parking lot out of the back of a van….THEN they’re pit bulls. PUREBRED pit bulls!
T-Texas

Pits can be docile for years and then maul the owner,or other family members close neighbor,It has nothing to do with training thy were bred to be vicious and this trait is hard to get out.
jobo

I’ll wager a Californian, visiting in Virginia for the Thanksgiving holiday, took the dog back with him…..and then lost or let him go 8 years later. Could a dog really walk across country, stay fed, etc., without at least one person helping the dog?

Anyway….GREAT conclusion for the dog and family.
Erick Blair

This is way too weird. I have 17 dogs, Really!, They won’t venture a mile from the house, much less 3,000. It seems impossible but alls well that ends well.
http://www.davidmcelroy.org/?p=7951 NEWS LINKS: Canada might save $6.7 billion by dumping Kyoto treaty « David McElroy

[...] a story that ought to make you happy, especially if you like animals. A family in Virginia is expected to have its pet dog back in time for Christmas — eight years after the dog was lost. No one knows how the dog got there, but she was [...]
http://www.poupetudo.com.br/2011/12/dog-falta-reunido-com-a-familia-apos-8-anos/ Dog falta Reunido com a fam?lia ap?s 8 anos | Poupe Tudo

[...] Verde sobre HuffingtonPost.com Tags: anos, Após, falta, família, Reunido « Post anterior Joss Garman: Obama Is Killing [...]
http://countenance.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/sunday-wrap-up-97/ Sunday Wrap-Up « Countenance Blog

[...] Virginia to California? Mark me, this dog was stolen. I don’t imagine a domestic dog making a three thousand mile [...]
thussaiththewalrus

URFUL:

“A Staffordshire is nothing but a pit bull that is LOST and the owners want the neighbors to help find him. BUT….when they’re selling puppies in the Walmart parking lot out of the back of a van….THEN they’re pit bulls. PUREBRED pit bulls!”

Your explanation is SO PERFECT that it needed to be repeated! A comparison is that IF my little wire fox terrier decided to bite someone (never has; this is just by way of explanation), the person being attacked could force his mouth open with little actual damage done (because my dog can’t “grind” while clenching); Staffordshires have been bred so that their mouths are like bear-traps; literally impossible to open so terrible damage can be inflicted.
http://www.insurancepetmed.com/missing-dog-reunited-with-family-after-8-years/ Missing Dog Reunited With Family After 8 Years | insurancepetmed.com

[...] a Skype interview with CBS13 Sacramento, Pruitt exclaimed upon seeing the dog,”Awwwwww. Look at [...]
http://widk.com/2011/12/07/lost-dog-finds-family-after-traveling-nearly-3000-miles-across-country-for-eight-years/ Lost Dog Finds Family After Traveling Nearly 3,000 MILES Across Country For Eight Years

[...] For Eight YearsDecember 7, 2011 // nRelate.domain = "widk.com"; // wpa2a.script_load(); TweetShare(CBS Sacramento By BEN SOSENKO) - A Virginia family may have their long-lost dog back in time for the holidays after a terrier [...]
http://www.doggydoodles.com.au/2012/01/missing-dog-reunited-with-family-after-8-years/ Missing dog reunited with family after 8 years | Doggy Doodles Pet Portraiture

[...] a Skype interview with CBS13 Sacramento, Pruitt exclaimed upon seeing the dog,”Awwwwww. Look at [...]