AKRON, Ohio — After running away from his Akron home and being missing for months, one Pomeranian husky named after the Greek god of sky and thunder recently had a heartwarming reunion with his owners, Rose Baun and Gio Diago.
Zeus has his own brand of strength and toughness— although he is cute and fluffy.
"He's got his little thunderbolt we like to say on his head," said Baun. "...I mean, I think he's a very resilient dog."
The 22-pound dog is also a bit of a troublemaker.
Last August, Zeus somehow broke out of a window of his home and jumped outside. A neighbor grabbed Zeus and put him in a cage, but he escaped that, too, running off just a few weeks before his owners celebrated their daughter Gianna's first birthday.
"This is like my first son. He was like my son before I had a daughter," Diago said.
As Zeus was on the loose, the couple spent months searching different neighborhoods.
"We were really out there searching, and it was just dead on dead ends," Diago said.
Baun added, "I did start to lose hope a little bit of hope after probably like four months."
Still, the couple continued posting several messages on Facebook asking for help with bringing their dog home. Dozens of tips and possible sightings came in.
"People would say, 'Oh, I think I saw him. I hear this, that and the other.' But we couldn't ever like track him down to an area," Baun said.
Seven months after Zeus disappeared, Diago received a video on March 24 that apparently showed a man walking the dog in the Chapel Hill neighborhood.
"There were a couple of people that did confirm that he was being passed around," Baun said.
The next day, Diago said he went to the area and talked with a homeless man who said Zeus was with a woman inside Summit Ridge Apartments. Police were called to the scene and remained on the scene for almost two hours, and after using a microchip scanner, they were able to confirm the dog was indeed Zeus.
"This is a huge win. We understand the importance of the connection and the relationship that people have with their pets," Akron Police Lt. Michael Murphy said.
"So he comes back with Zeus in hand, and I'm like, 'Oh, thank God,'" Baun said. "It was amazing, like I cried, obviously."
No charges were filed in the case. The owners are just happy Zeus is finally home.
"It means the world to me like realistically to me, it feels like he was never gone. I always told her he was gonna come back," said Diago.
Bob Jones is the Summit, Stark and Tuscarawas counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @BobjonesTV, or email him at BJones@wews.com.
