How long would it take you to give up if you lost your furry friend? A week? A month? Six months? Well this is the story of Julio Gascon and his dog Duke. Duke escaped, and went missing for two whole years before he was reunited with his owner.
Julio had known Duke since he was a puppy, having adopted him from a breeder in 2012, when he was only 8 months old. Julio still remembers the day he brought his new best friend home.
“We knew he was going to be a fun dog because he would not stop,” said Julio. “He was just running in circles.”
But on Christmas Eve of 2013, Julio let Duke, a quickly growing Great Dane, out into the yard to play. But upon his return, he realized that something was amiss. Duke was gone, nowhere to be seen.
“Whether somebody opened it or [he] opened it then got out,” he lamented.
Julio rushed into the street, calling for Duke, even getting in his truck and driving slowly around the neighborhood, hoping that he would be able to see Duke’s head popping over a fence.
He did not find Duke that night. Nor the night after. The search continued for weeks, and then months. But Julio never gave up hope.
The date is March 3rd, 2013. Two years after Duke’s escape, and nearly 350 miles away, David Walker walks outside to begin his chores on his ranch in Navasota, Texas. As he stepped out, he was totally unprepared for the sight before him.
“So when I looked down I saw this Great Dane looking up at me,” recalls Walker. “I almost jumped out of my shoes.”
The dog appeared friendly, so Walker approached him. The dog still didn’t struggle, so he decided to take it to a vet, in the hopes that the dog was micro chipped, and he could locate the owner.
350 miles away, Julio’s phone rings. It’s Walker.
“Hey we found your dog, a gentleman out here found your dog.”
Julio hears the news and is elated. As soon as he can, he hops into his truck with his brother, and makes the 350 mile journey to bring his long lost friend home.
Duke seemed to feel the same sort of excitement. As soon as he heard the sound of the same truck that he was brought home in when he was adopted, he began to jump up and down in excitement.
After a period of 800 days, Julio and Duke are finally together again.
Julio was overcome with emotion that Duke remembered him after two long years. His reaction to seeing him again was, in his own words, “priceless.”
As soon as they got home, Duke went straight to the vet to make sure his being lost for two years would have no permanent consequences to his health. While the vet said that Duke could gain a little weight, he suffered only a minor hip problem, and should be fine now that he is back under Julio’s care.
The two are now trying to make up for lost time. Duke is much larger than he was when Julio first got him, and according to Julio, “He’s still clumsy, he still likes to goof around a lot.”
Julio thanked David Walker for taking care of Duke and calling him. He also wanted to use his story as a message for all cat and dog owners to get their animals micro chipped.
You never know what could happen, and who might could find and save your animal’s life.
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Watch the precious moment they reunite in the video below:
