Family reunited with dog after more than 8 years

HOUSTON – After nearly a decade, a Louisiana family found their long lost dog with the help of the Houston SCPA and thanks to the dog’s microchip.

“A couple days ago when we get a phone call from Houston SPCA, we were like, ‘Wait, what? You have our dog Jasper who went missing eight years ago? Like this cannot be real,” said Tiffany Hendry, Jasper’s owner.

They said Japser had a bad habit of escaping from his family’s backyard in Monroe, Louisiana, but would usually return.

“But the last time he got out, we just never saw him again, we had him chipped because our previous dog before that, someone had stolen her and so we were devastated because he’s part of the family,” explained Hendry. “After checking the pound and checking the neighborhood we just gave up hope and we just thought he was dead honestly.”

But it turns out, Jasper was living in Houston all those years, and showed up to the Houston SPCA on Friday.

“This is an amazing story and it is proof that microchipping works and that it’s really important,” said Julie Kuenstle, vice president of communications for the Houston SPCA.

They believe a Louisiana family found Jasper after he got loose and kept him for the past eight years, but during that time they moved to Houston.

Kuenstle said the family could no longer care for the 12-year-old dog and took him to the shelter.

“Jasper came to us over the weekend in very good condition, we checked the microchip, like we always do through our admissions process, and the family’s information came up through the microchip,” explained Kuenstle. “We contacted them immediately, they were shocked that their sweet puppy was still alive and really surprising is that it was in Houston of all places.

The Hendry family had some friends who were in Houston who offered to pick up Jasper and bring him back home to Louisiana after they saw the family’s Facebook post.

“I was like, “Are you kidding me? That would be such a blessing!” explained Hendry.

“Later that evening when we got home and it was just us, he climbed up on the couch and  got in my lap and cuddled with me. It’s like these moments where he looked at me dead in the eye almost if like to say, I know you. He was just looking into my heart saying, ‘I know who you are, I never forgot you,” said Hendry.

Jaspar is now living in West Monroe, at the family’s new home which sits on 50 acres of land.