Missing dog travels 150 miles, 8 months before making way home to Flint

By: Melissa Hudson

Posted: Jun 25, 2015 1:26 PM EDT

Jamie Ward

Flint, MI -- There was a remarkable reunion this week between a family and their missing dog.

The pup traveled more than 150 miles and eight months before making his way home to Flint.

Jenny Ferranti and 10 month old pit-bull mix Splash were reunited Monday. It was a remarkable homecoming for the pup who went missing at 12 weeks old from the front porch. It was almost eight months ago, but Ferranti said she never gave up hope.

After Splash's disappearance, the Ferranti's searched high and low, kept in touch with the police and animal control and at one point actually thought they spotted him being sold in a Burton Craigslist ad.

It wasn't until a week ago Sunday that a Muskegon pound contacted Ferranti with the news she'd been waiting long to hear.

"I got this email saying 'microchip recovery Splash' and I'm like, 'What no way? There's no way somebody found him,'" Ferranti said.

Pound Buddies in Muskegon did in fact have Splash.

"We were shocked," Ferranti said.

They met in a dollar store parking lot Monday to return Splash to Ferranti. He certainly wasn't the puppy she last saw. Ferranti said, at first, she wasn't sure if Splash remembered her.

"At first I wasn't sure if he did or not, but when we were walking down the street coming home, he started to remember where he was and once he got up on the porch, he was like 'OK, where's the other dogs?'" Ferranti said.

Ferranti is thankful she made the decision to have Splash micro-chipped at 8 weeks old. If she hadn't, she's not sure she would have ever seen him again.

"We were very lucky that we got him micro chipped when we did," she said.

WJRT