A Florida man who lost his service dog in California had a tearful reunion with his pup after believing he may never see him again, seven months after their last encounter.
On Wednesday, Dean Hamilton was reunited with his dog Angus at the Sacramento International Airport thanks to the kindness of strangers who paid for him to fly out and reunite with his beloved dog.
Hamilton an Orlando, Florida resident, had been traveling through California for medical treatment back in May when he was separated from ‘Goosie’ in Tulare County. Even as the months passed by, Hamilton said he never fully lost hope.
‘This is my best friend and just…the best thing ever,’ the pup owner said.
‘It’s a Christmas miracle, this is the best thing ever,’ Hamilton said upon being reunited with Angus in California.
Hamilton’s car had broken down while traveling on Highway 99 and Goosie, distracted by food trucks, made a run for it as the man was making repairs.
Desperate to find his beloved pup, Hamilton told local outlets he spent ‘every last dime’ he had trying to stay in the Golden State searching for Angus, even after he had to begin sleeping in his car.
The Florida man lived told WTSP he lived in his car for two months until he ran out of money and had to travel back to Florida to take care of his mom.
Even after returning to his home state, though, he continued the search for Angus.
Hamilton spent the months after reaching out to California animal shelters and nonprofits, asking for assistance in looking for the missing pup.
That search continued until he got the call: Angus is alive and ready to come home
‘I mean, I was shaking,’ he told FOX 35. ‘I was shaking.’
Angus had made his way to Clovis, California and had been located by local officials who ran his microchip and reached out to Hamilton.
‘When we collect dogs from in field, we try to return them right away, and the chip is a really helpful thing that we use,’ said Officer Christopher Hernandez who reached out to the Florida dog owner.
The one issue, however, was getting Angus back to Florida with his owner.
‘The distance from Florida to here, I’ve never seen a case from our division have one of those,’ said Officer