CLEVELAND — At the West Park Animal Hospital in Cleveland, stray animals are often brought in after being separated from their owners. But for Honey, a 5-year-old German shepherd, her arrival at the animal hospital was prefaced by a journey unlike most of the other pets brought in.
Sara Jordan Neumann, director and president of Grim Reaper Rescue & Reprieve, has taken over Honey's case since a good Samaritan found the pup and brought her to the animal hospital.
"She was very friendly, and we're like dogs got to come from somewhere," Neumann said.
Because Honey seemed well cared for and was so friendly, her rescuers believed she had to have a home and someone looking for her, so they began to search.
Workers at the animal hospital scanned Honey and quickly found she had a microchip. The information that came up when she was scanned shocked everyone.
"A little number pops up on the microchip scanner. And it's always like finding gold when that happens. So we run it up to the front desk, they look up the number and everything, and they found out that she is from California," Neumann said.
Honey's owner lives in Mojave, California—more than 2,000 miles away. And Honey had been missing for two years.
Honey's shocking identity didn't stop there. After contacting her owner and realizing she had been searching California for her over the past two years, the hospital also learned that Honey went missing in the middle of her training to become a diabetic service dog for her owner.
The bond she had with her owner was stronger than the hospital could have realized—and one that never stopped over the past two years. Honey's owner had continued to register the dog so that if she ever was found and checked for a microchip, someone would know where she came from.
"She looked for so long. She has like sent us several posts that she's made looking for her dog, like 'Has anyone seen me?' And these are posts that have been backdated two years ago. So it's just crazy," Neumann said.
No one knows for sure how Honey got from California to Ohio. Right now, the theory is that her owner had a spike in her blood sugar in the night as she slept, and Honey got out of the home in California to get help. From there, perhaps she was picked up by a trucker or someone on the road who believed she was a stray. But they can't say for sure.
How she was found as a stray in Ohio is a mystery of its own.
"There's so many questions that come along with it, like 'How?' 'Who is she?' 'Where did she come from?' 'What has she been through?' We don't know. And that's why I keep telling everyone this is literally like Homeward Bound. She could have been on this crazy adventure; she could have been picked up. We'll never know," Neumann said.
Since finding out Honey is a West Coast pup, Neumann, her rescue and the animal hospital have been raising money to help get her back home. They've raised most of it but are still a bit away. However, they've gone ahead and secured Honey's flight home, and on Saturday, she'll get on a plane and be reunited with her owner.
For her Cleveland caretakers, saying goodbye will be hard—but everyone is looking forward to the moment she returns home.
"Our animal care team, they've already cried about thinking about her leaving. They just can't imagine not having her here anymore. So bittersweet, but it's going to melt everyone's heart, and it's all going to come full circle the minute we see her with her mom," Neumann said.
Donations to help pay for the reunion are still being collected. If you're interested in donating, click here.
Last year, another dog was found in California after going missing 12 years before. Watch that story below:
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