Leroy returns home: Dog reunited with family after going missing 2 years ago

After two years, an Alabama family didn’t think they would ever see their beloved Leroy again. But thanks to a tiny piece of technology, their story has a happy ending.

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Leroy was the Elleard family’s dog and he got out of their home’s back door in May 2021, WKRG reported.

“I left the back door open to take trash out, maybe four or five inches wide, came back in and did not realize he was gone at first, called around to take him for a walk and I realized he was gone,” Robert Elleard told WKRG.

Normally they would find the 7-year-old Coton de Tulear in the woods near their home, but this time they couldn’t find him.

After about six months of looking for him, the family gave up hope of ever finding Leroy, WALA reported.

But this week that all changed.

Daphne, Alabama, animal control officer Jessie Payne received a report of two stray dogs that had gotten into someone’s yard through a fence.

One of the dogs was extremely matted and after a bath, shelter workers scanned him for a microchip and found one.

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Karen Elleard got the call from Payne saying that Leroy had been found.

“I get a phone call, and she’s like, ‘this is Officer Payne, did you lose a dog?’ and I was like, ‘almost two years ago, yes,’ and that’s when she said the microchip gave her my information, and that’s how they were able to track us down,” Robert Elleard told WALA. “I just couldn’t believe it. We both started crying and started walking back to the house, and she said she’ll be here in ten minutes, and we said ‘okay! we’ll be here!’”

As for the other dog, now named Sherlock, he wasn’t microchipped but will be up for adoption if his owners don’t claim him. But he may already have a home if the owners are not found. The Ellards may reunite the roaming rovers.

“We really don’t know how long they traveled together. I know Sherlock is a little older than Leroy, but we’ll see,” Karen Ellard told WALA.

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