Cape Town - A dog has been reunited with its family an astonishing ten years after it went missing.
It was a phone call the Slabbert family from Bellville could never have dreamed of receiving a decade after their then one-year-old pet, Koda, mysteriously disappeared from their home.
Tara McGovern of the Cape of Good Hope SPCA says a woman called and then brought the black and white husky to them last week after finding it wandering in the streets.
She says tests were immediately conducted on Koda, who was frail and thin, and they found an Identipet chip, which was ironically installed by the SPCA themselves 10 years ago.
“We will never know what happened to the dog during the 10 years,” says Tara.
“The Slabbert family could not have known that one phone call would change their lives in a matter of seconds.
“Ten years before, they had welcomed a young male husky into their home and looked forward to spending a lifetime with him - playing, hiking, relaxing and, most of all, loving each other.
The beautiful husky. Picture supplied
“Sadly that was not to be; Koda disappeared one day and after a heartbreaking search, they were unable to find him.”
An overcome Chantelle Slabbert, 29, says losing their pet all those years ago was devastating.
“We even took it for puppy classes as this was a lifelong commitment for our family,” she says.
“Then one night when we arrived home from work, the dog was just missing.
“We got the whole family involved in the search and looked all over for days and weeks and it was like we lost a family member.”
“I was sitting at my desk at work when the SPCA called me and I thought it had to do with a donation when the person said, ‘We found your dog’.
“I could not believe it. Koda is a Native American name and it means ‘lifelong friend’.”
She says after Koda disappeared, they didn’t have the heart to get a new pet.
Before taking the dog home, Koda underwent a battery of tests to assess his behaviour, mental state and physical wellness.
“He is so calm and passive,” says Chantelle.
“When we saw the dog, he was thin and his hair faded but he was groomed and cleaned thanks to a donation by a dog parlour.
“We want to say thank you to the SPCA and the person who found Koda, we have yet to meet her face to face.”
Tara says without proper identification, 90% of all pets that go missing are never reunited with their owners.
“Koda’s story is a miracle thanks to microchip technology,” she says.