Dog missing from Sarasota reunited with owner

Abby, the miniature Australian Shepard, is finally back home. Now her owner Michael Epstein is finally breathing a sigh of relief.

"Saying I was happy doesn't do it justice at all," he said.

Abby had been missing from her Sarasota home since July 3rd. She was reportedly spooked by fireworks and took off.

"She's with me 15 to 20 hours a day you can imagine it's like your arm disappearing when you wake up," Epstein said.

Three agonizing weeks went by, but then something wonderful happened.  The phone rang, Abby had been found. She was hundreds of miles away in Atlanta. 

“Obviously we want to say probably someone stole her and brought her here to Georgia, why they left her in Chastain Park we have no idea," added Fulton County Animal Shelter spokesperson Pamela Bryant.

Turns out a runner spotted Abby at the park and took her to the Fulton County animal shelter. They scanned her microchip and made the call her owners were waiting for.

"Enjoying her right now multiply that by a 100 that's what I was like when I saw her in Atlanta," Epstein proclaimed.

And he says that reunion likely wouldn't have been possible without a microchip. Fortunately for Abby, she just had one put in earlier this year.

"The micro-chipping isn't going to find your dog but if your dog is found it'll find you real fast," he added.