Missing Collier County dog found in New Hampshire

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla.- Golden Gate Estates resident Julie Shields found Cooper, an American bulldog, wandering in her neighborhood.

“I advertised him wherever I could think of signs, Craigslist, that kind of stuff, nobody ever claimed him.”

So Shields decided to keep him, getting him neutered and micro chipped and welcoming him into her family.

“He was a lot of work, had some bad habits and maybe that’s why somebody dropped him off. We were kind of getting over that hump when he disappeared,” said Shields. “I had him for about 12 months.”

That’s when the heartbreak came. Shields tells WINK News Cooper vanished in May, possibly getting throughout the front gate. But this week, six months after Cooper’s disappearance, Shields got a call from police that changed her entire mood.

“Somebody called me and said he was in New Hampshire.  I said, ‘you know I’m in Florida right?’ She said ‘yeah, we know everything about you, we found this microchip on your dog,'” Sheilds said. “Unfortunately there are a lot of dogs going missing out here in Collier County.”

Daniel Christenbury with Collier County’s Domestic Animal Services said as crazy as it sounds, it’s very possible Cooper walked 1500 miles to the northeast.

“But we don’t have anything that shows that people are stealing dogs,” said Christenbury.

Shields admits she may never know how her dog got to New Hampshire, but Cooper will be back soon just in time for the holidays.

“Thank you to all the people who are getting him home,” said Shields.

Shields said Cooper should be home next week thanks to Kindred Hearts Transport. The national charity helps reunite lost dogs with their owners.