“It doesn’t seem like they’re gonna have any issues falling back in love with her again,” Amber Pinnon, Winnebago County Animal Services coordinator, tells PEOPLE
NEED TO KNOW
- On New Year’s Eve in 2020, Bella, a 1-year-old Chihuahua, went missing from her family’s Houston, Texas, backyard
- Five years later, on Dec. 27, 2025, she was brought as a stray to Winnebago County Animal Services in Rockford, Ill.
- Within five days, the organization and Care for Pets worked together and returned the now 6-year-old dog to her family in Texas
A dog was missing for five years before he was reunited with his family, states away.
Bella escaped her family’s Houston, Texas, backyard on a rainy New Year’s Eve in 2020. Quickly, her owner Sergio Torres, who’s the father of six children, searched for her, distributing flyers across the city and knocking door to door, according to CBS News.
But five years later, on Dec. 27, the 6-year-old Chihuahua was brought as a stray to Winnebago County Animal Services (WCAS) in Rockford, Ill., Amber Pinnon, a WCAS adoption and volunteer coordinator, tells PEOPLE…