A small crack in the back gate of Judy Kula’s Phoenix home would lead to ten months of absolute heartache.
“We came out to the front of our house in our pajamas and just one of us went one direction, one went the other direction and we just kept calling him, calling him," said Judy.
Last December, Judy says her small 13-year-old Schnauzer mix named Jasper escaped through that opening. They noticed right away, but a frantic search of the neighborhood came up empty handed.
“We went down every street and every cul-de-sac,” said Judy.
For months, she posted on Facebook groups, alerted animal shelters and even put up flyers offering a $500 reward for his safe return.
Judy tells ABC15 the search has been agonizing.
“The nights where I swear, I’d heard him, or I’d go out in the back yard and I’d swear I saw him go by, it was so difficult,” said Judy. “I’m sure I spooked every black cat thinking it was him, it was like Jasper is that you and the poor cat would go running.”
While she never lost hope, she eventually registered Jasper’s license as deceased.
But last week, ten months after his disappearance, a potential miracle was at work after a good samaritan made a call to animal control after finding very mangy pup roaming free.
“A kind stranger called our field officers and our field officers went to their house, scanned for a microchip because they can do that in the field,” said Kim Powell with Maricopa Animal Care and Control.
The information on that microchip lead them back to Judys home that same day for an incredible reunion.
“She opened up the door and here’s this dog that is three times the size as normal with all this hair everywhere he wouldn’t usually have, and I lifted up the hair by his eyes and it was like, oh my god, Jasper this is you, he came out right away tail wagging, he knew he was home,” said Judy.
Besides needing a major hair cut, Jasper’s health has checked out. While we’ll never know where his ten month adventure took him, there’s certainly no place like home.
“We are so grateful to have him back, I feel like I haven’t had a good night's sleep since he went missing,” said Judy.