A Pennsylvania family could not believe their eyes as their black Labrador-mix showed up wagging her tail. Debra Suierveld and her family did not expect their pet named Abby to be alive after it went missing and could not be traced for 10 long years. The dog was playing with her owner’s children in their backyard in Apollo back in 2008, ran off and never returned. She was two-year-old then.

Their decade-long sadness turned into pure joy when Suierveld were contacted by the Animal Protectors of Allegheny Valley, who informed that Abby was found. Not only does the 12-year-old remembers her name, she even responds to the commands that the family taught her years ago. Debra was quoted in a media report, “We thought she had passed away. It feels like a part of my kids’ childhood is back, part of our family is back. It’s pretty awesome.” Upon Abby’s safe return home, Suierveld called her daughter Carly cried after hearing the news. Carly was a young girl when she got her pet.

The dog was spotted on Judy Spiering in Lower Burrell at Pennsylvania which is nearly ten miles away from where she went missing. George Speiring, the man who found Abby called the Police and the rescue team arrived. They were able to get the details from the chip installed in her neck as a pup. The black Labrador was in a good condition when she was found and her exact whereabouts all this time are unknown. Ms. Debra said that she must have had a home and been looked after.

Abby is not the only dog to be returned to its owners after a long gap. On June 2017, a Southern California family was reunited with their pit bull Kona after seven years with the help of a microchip.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 05, 2018 03:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).