Dog missing for nine months found 2,000 miles away from home

A dog that went missing in California nine months ago has been reunited with its owners after being found walking the streets of a Detroit suburb more than 2,000 miles away.

The terrier-mix, called Mishka, was picked up by police, who took her to an animal shelter last week, following a report of a stray dog near Harper Woods, Michigan.

Staff at the Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society found she had a microchip, which identified her owners as living 2,343 miles away in San Diego.

Mishka vanished last July from a workplace and it is unclear how she had travelled so far.

Owners Mehrad and Liz Houman were on holiday in Minneapolis when staff from the shelter called and immediately drove 10 hours to Michigan to collect their pet.

While both the journey to Michigan and who cared for her remain a mystery, the family reported that she has learned a new trick during her time away. Mishka can now sit on command.

“I’ve been missing my kid, so that’s I think what anybody would do to go get their kid back,” Mr Houman told Fox 2.

Pictures and videos shared on social media showed Mishka, a scraggly, small, white-haired dog, wagging her tail as she was reunited with her delighted owners.

“This is the happy ending we all wanted,” shelter staff said in a Facebook post, describing it as “a tale that Hollywood would love to tell”.

Nancy Pillsbury, the veterinarian who examined the three-year-old dog, gave her a rabies jab and cleared her to travel home to southern California.

“Whoever had her, took good care of her,” said Ms Pillsbury, adding that the dog was clean and well-fed. “How she got here – that’s a story only Mishka knows.”

“We never gave up hope,” said Liz Houman. “It’s a 100 per cent miracle.”