Missing dog found after 2 years. Where was he? Just down the street.

On Friday, we posted that a yellow lab had escaped from his yard. This was actually the second time that we’d posted about Turner escaping. Fortunately, the first time Turner had been found because someone from the humane society saw him on MLTnews in January.

The good news, this time, is that once again Turner will be reunited with his family. The only problem is that it may be a different family.

Let’s rewind.

In 2008 Rick Smith and his family were living in Everett. His dog, Bruno, had escaped and was no where to be found. The family searched for months but eventually assumed they wouldn’t see Bruno again. Rick Smith is in the Navy and was scheduled to move to Virginia Beach. By July of 2008, when the Smiths moved, Bruno had been missing for 6 months.

Also, in 2008, Matt Calhoun found their dog, Turner, on the side of the highway 99 in Everett. Turner was healthy but had no collar and they didn’t think to check if he had a microchip. They took him in and have cared for Turner ever since. Matt’s son, now 3, has been great friends with Turner for the majority of his life.

Fast forward to last Friday, April 3rd.

Kristin Abercrombie and Valerie Benedict found Turner wandering in the street in Mountlake Terrace. Covered in mud, they took him in and he quickly made friends with the other dog of the house. They took him to a vet and when the vet scanned the dog for a microchip, they found one. The microchip had a couple phone numbers and a name, Bruno, on the microchip. They were ultimately able to get a hold of the owner, Rick Smith, now living in Virginia. The Smiths quickly arranged to have a travel kennel and a plane ticket sent to Mountlake Terrace to bring Bruno to his new home in Virginia Beach.

King 5 did this very nice story on Sunday about Bruno and how he will be reunited with his family after nearly two years apart. What they didn’t mention was where Bruno had been the last two years.

If you can’y see the embedded video, visit the site

I had Turner’s photo fresh in my mind on Sunday when I saw the King 5 story about Bruno. The fact that Bruno was found the same day Turner was lost in the same city seemed too much of a coincidence. I got a hold of Matt Calhoun and he confirmed that the dog on the King 5 story, Bruno, was Turner.

The Calhouns understood that the dog belonged to the Smiths and were just hoping that their son would get an opportunity to say goodbye. Matt Calhoun got a hold of King 5 to see if he could arrange a meeting with the dog before he traveled across the crountry. The dog’s owner, Rick Smith, ended up calling the Calhoun’s and is now considering letting the Calhoun’s keep Turner/Bruno.

The craziest thing in this whole story is that the Smith’s and the Calhoun’s lived within 500 feet of each other in Everett for a good 6 months after the dog changed homes 2 years ago.

Here’s an update to this story.

If you know of any lost or found pets, email us at tips@MLTnews.com and we’ll do what we can to help. We also troll Craigslist, where we found a match just yesterday.

  1. I hope if they let him stay here the owners do a better job of keeping him in the yard or house – I live nearby and that dog wanders loose all the time!

  2. This story is complete bs. these 'owners' story changes everytime i hear it. the first thing anyone should ever do is to check for a microchip on a lost animal. well that would be the intelligent thing to do. BRUNO is going home to his real family. and yes the invitation of seeing bruno one last time before he gets on the airplane was denied because it is very obvious bruno was not ment to be with that family. Bruno is going to be as happy as he was a year and a half ago.

  3. This story is complete bs. these ‘owners’ story changes everytime i hear it. the first thing anyone should ever do is to check for a microchip on a lost animal. well that would be the intelligent thing to do. BRUNO is going home to his real family. and yes the invitation of seeing bruno one last time before he gets on the airplane was denied because it is very obvious bruno was not ment to be with that family. Bruno is going to be as happy as he was a year and a half ago.

    1. Is it BS? We have multiple records of having him checked up when we found him and having him checked for a chip 3 times in 4 months. If they aren’t using the right scanner they wont find it.rnIf the smiths did due diligence they would have found the banners and found logs at paws , humane society and animal control AND on their street. All they had to do was come to the office of the largest apt complex near them and ask if someone had seen or found a dog. But hey your the neighbor you know everything. Post your name genius.

    2. Another thing Another neighbor…how many times have you heard my story? oh wait none.because none of my neighbors talked to me about this. But a couple 20 somethings wanted to tell there fluffy story to king 5 but don’t have the motivation to meet us in their yard to let my son say bye. gimme a break it’s obvious they were in it for the points.

  4. This story is complete bs. these 'owners' story changes everytime i hear it. the first thing anyone should ever do is to check for a microchip on a lost animal. well that would be the intelligent thing to do. BRUNO is going home to his real family. and yes the invitation of seeing bruno one last time before he gets on the airplane was denied because it is very obvious bruno was not ment to be with that family. Bruno is going to be as happy as he was a year and a half ago.

    1. Is it BS? We have multiple records of having him checked up when we found him and having him checked for a chip 3 times in 4 months. If they aren't using the right scanner they wont find it.If the smiths did due diligence they would have found the banners and found logs at paws , humane society and animal control AND on their street. All they had to do was come to the office of the largest apt complex near them and ask if someone had seen or found a dog. But hey your the neighbor you know everything. Post your name genius.

  5. Another thing Another neighbor…how many times have you heard my story? oh wait none.because none of my neighbors talked to me about this. But a couple 20 something attention whores wanted to tell there fluffy story to king 5 but don't have the motivation to meet us in their yard to let my son say bye. gimme a break it's obvious they were in it for the points.

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