A senior dog went missing for nearly a year. Thankfully, he was reunited with his loving family who missed him very much.

Lisa Raulerson is the owner of Sparky, a 16-year-old Westie.

One day she accidentally left a gate open and Sparky escaped her West Palm Beach home.

Lisa said they looked frantically for Sparky but just couldn’t find him. She spoke to WPTV-TV about searching for her beloved pet.

“We looked for a week or two just straight looking for him,” she said.

Sparky was partially deaf.

Adding to the difficulty in finding Sparky is that he is partially deaf. This would have made it harder for him to hear his family calling out for him.

The family did everything they could think of to find him. They put up flyers and offered a reward to anyone who could help them locate Sparky.

Lisa began to feel skeptical that they would ever find the senior dog again.

Then one day she was scrolling through a local shelter’s Facebook page and spotted a dog that looked just like Sparky!

Sparky had been picked up by Palm Beach animal control. He had been microchipped but the information was not up-to-date. Sparky also wasn’t wearing tags.

He was treated as a stray. As a senior dog, this meant he was at risk of being put down.

A rescue organization named Sunshine State Westie Rescue got to him just in time.

“We pulled him the day before his final day,” wrote the rescue organization.

Sparky’s family contacts the rescue organization.

After seeing pictures of Sparky online, Lisa contacted the rescue organization.

The shelter was then able to confirm that Lisa was Sparky’s owner when the veterinarian who had microchipped him vouched for Lisa that it was her dog.

Lisa and Sparky would finally be reunited after nearly a year apart!

After 331 days apart, Lisa and Sparky were reunited. Her whole family was thrilled that Sparky returned him to them.

“I feel like a void in my heart was filled I really do. I never thought I’d see him again but here he is. I wish he could talk,” stated Raulerson.

Sparky must have wondered if he would ever see his loving family again. What joy he must have felt to finally be reunited with the people who care so much about him.

We wish Sparky could talk too so he could tell us all about how happy he felt to be back with Lisa.

The importance of registering your pet’s microchip.

While this story had a happy ending, it could have been avoided had Sparky’s microchip information been up-to-date. This would have allowed the shelter to contact Lisa immediately after they brought Sparky in.

Sunshine State Westie Rescue posted to social media that this story is a reminder of how important microchipping is for you and your pets.

“We are telling you his story to show you that you should never give up if your dog goes missing. Keep your posts about your missing dog updated, keep the information with the shelter up to date. You just never know what could happen. MOST IMPORTANTLY, microchip your dog or cat, and register that chip!”

Learn more about Lisa and Sparky’s reunion in the video below!

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

Source: Sunshine State Westie Rescue/WPTV