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Allegedly stolen pup from Flint, found in Muskegon, going back home

Posted at 5:55 PM, Jun 19, 2015
and last updated 2015-06-19 18:38:03-04

MUSKEGON, Mich. – It is a happy ending for a shelter dog, after he traveled across the state. His owner said he was stolen before her eyes in November; she has been searching for her puppy for nearly seven months. That is, until she got a call from a shelter in Muskegon.

“This is what I love,” laughed Lana Carson, Pound Buddies director, as a recently found dog jumped on her lap.

Splash the pound pup has found his forever home, again.

"For everything he's been through, the different owners, it's amazing to see even though he's a little nervous in this surrounding, he's still very trusting,” said Carson.

For the past seven months, only Splash really knows the number of homes he has had. As an eight-week-old puppy, his owners adopted him in Flint, but they have not seen him until recent some recent pictures from Pound Buddies.

His owner Jenny Ferranti told FOX 17 News she could not believe it.

“Both my husband and I started crying,” said Ferranti. “I'm Flint, there's no way he could be way over in Muskegon. I told my husband he's like, 'we're getting him back!' I'm like, ‘yes we are.’"

Ferranti said she saw a neighbor steal Splash from her front porch just before last Thanksgiving.

She filed a police report then searched on her own, finding Splash being sold for $150 on Craigslist in January. By the time she got to that home in Burton, she said she was too late.

"Nobody showed up and by that time they had already got rid of him,” said Ferranti.

But, she had an ace in her back pocket.

“I don't give up hope very easily when it comes to animals because I know he was micro-chipped,” said Ferranti.

It was that micro-chip that is bringing Splash home. Collars and tags often slip off, but it is micro-chipping Carson said that is imperative.

“The first thing that we do when an animal comes in is we run that scanner because we're looking for that micro-chip,” said Carson. “Extremely important."

A little nervous, but as sweet and social as Ferranti remembers him, Splash is finally going back to his real home.

"We're just happy to get him back,” said Ferranti.

Carson said micro-chipping is typically included in the cost of adopting an animal. At the veterinarian office, she said micro-chipping ranges $35 to $50; however, look for specials like at Tractor Supply, which offers micro-chipping for less.