Family share joyous reunion with beloved dog who went missing three years ago

Microchip helped reconnect dog named Jill with her family

The Smith family were reunited with their missing dog Jill at an Arkansas shelter (Friends of the Animal Village)

A family whose dog vanished years ago have finally been reunited with the beloved pet - even after moving hundreds of miles away.

The Smith family’s two dogs named Jack and Jill went missing from their backyard in Little Rock, Arkansas, in the summer of 2020, KLRT reported.

Then last month, they received a call that Jill had been found and was being cared for by Little Rock Animal Village.

The family, who now live in Texas, drove all the way back to their former home for a joyful reunion that was captured in a social media post by Friends of the Animal Village, a nonprofit that provides support to the shelter.

While it’s not clear where Jill has been over the past few years, she was recently found by a police officer in Little Rock and taken to the shelter.

There, a microchip helped link her back to the Smiths.

“If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times. Microchips save lives!” the organization said in a July 28 post. “This family just drove all the way from Texas to be reunited with their beloved Jill.”

Britnee Smith spoke to KLRT about the moment the family received word that Jill had been found.

“We were so ecstatic, like we got off of work, actually we clocked out early, like we are getting on the road,” she said. “We didn’t pack anything, like we literally hopped in our vehicles and zoomed to Little Rock.”

When they arrived, Ms Smith said the family was overjoyed to find Jill recognised them.

“She remembers her name,” she said.

Friends of the Animal Village used the touching story to remind owners to microchip their pets.

“We love a happy ending,” the organisation wrote on Facebook.