A dog missing since a Florida hurricane was found “skin and bones” — then came an emotional reunion with his owner.
“To say I was overjoyed and overwhelmed doesn’t quite capture it,” Deborah Newell, who has had Miles since he was a puppy, told McClatchy News in a Dec. 31 email. “This was a true fairytale ending to what had been a heartbreaking hurricane story, of which there were so many in our part of Florida. We were all crying and hugging as we gave Miles clean water and a little kibble.”
Miles finally returned home nearly three months after Hurricane Milton unleashed flooding and powerful winds on Florida’s Gulf Coast in October. Miles’ family had taken him out before he escaped through a section of their fence that was damaged in the storm.
Right away, Newell said she printed flyers and spread the word about Miles on social media. Though she didn’t find him, she “never lost hope.”
Then, about 80 days after Miles disappeared from her home in Ruskin, his owner saw a Facebook post that caught her eye. A woman said she was fishing when she spotted a dog in need of help, so Newell went to the area to see if it was Miles.