A pint-sized pooch who went missing from her family’s Mississippi home about five years ago was reunited with her owners after turning up in a Florida city about 520 miles away.
Kristy Taylor and Josh Craig said their dog, a chihuahua and dachshund mix named Penny, went missing from their home in Lucedale.
They never found out what became of Penny until the canine was found wandering the streets of DeLand, Fla., five years later.
Briana Rideout found Penny dodging traffic on a city street Oct. 21 and coaxed her inside the home she shares with her boyfriend, Daniel Lenoci. The couple cared for Penny while they posted on Facebook about the found pet.
The couple took Penny to a local shelter a few days later and a microchip scan showed she had been reported missing 520 miles away in Lucedale.
“I immediately said, ‘How? How in the world does that happen?” Rideout told the Daytona Beach News Journal.
Taylor and Craig made the drive to Florida on Wednesday and were reunited with Penny.
Taylor said Penny appears to have been cared for during the time she was missing.
“She’s a little bigger. She’s put on a little weight,” Taylor told WESH-TV.
The couple said they are happy to have Penny back home.
“We’re so grateful that she was taken care of,” Taylor said.
