A golden retriever has astonished his new owner after walking 64 kilometres back to his old home in Northern Ireland, spending nearly a month on the run.
The dog, Cooper, was rehomed in early April but escaped after only a few minutes after getting to his new home and seeing his other companion — another golden retriever named Molly.
"Cooper was an extremely timid dog in a new environment and managed to slip from his owner, which is when his adventure began," Lost Paws Northern Ireland said.
"We were asked to assist with a search by Cooper’s family and we were able to respond. We set up various feeding stations around the area and completed door-to-door speaking to the locals.
"Several farmers reported seeing him, but as he was not posing any risk to sheep, they let him on his way."
New owner Nigel Fleming told BelfastLive: "We had literally driven from the dog pound to my home when he bolted.
"The poor boy had no idea where he was and he was in the wind. I tried to chase after him, but he was gone in an instant – so then the search was on.
He was reported missing on April 1 from the Dungannon area — a town with around 14,000 people. Cooper was only located 27 days after he went missing, spending close to a month on the road.
"Today, we received a call from a member of the public stating that he recognised Cooper from our posts and that he saw him running towards his old property and was certain it was him," Lost Paws said.
"We quickly contacted Nigel, his new owner, and around 20 minutes later, a photo arrived in our inbox of a dishevelled but breathing Cooper, something we were absolutely elated to see.
"Cooper crossed main A roads, forests, fields, country roads all over 27 days to make his way back home from an area he had never been in before."
His owner said Cooper was now eating small meals regularly to build up his strength.
"He's safe now, he is eating small meals to build up his strength and put some weight back on slowly - he has lost a lot of weight and he desperately needs a warm bath, but that can wait until he is stronger.
"I’m sitting here looking at him and I cannot believe he’s home."
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