Dog Missing for 5 Months Ends Up at Alabama Animal Shelter Where Owner Works: 'It Was Surely Fate'

Mar. 15, 2025

Cheyenne Campbell’s dog Emma.Photo:2nd Chance Shelter/Facebook

2nd Chance Shelter/Facebook

Cheyenne Campbell was working a normal animal shelter shift when a dog who had just been dropped off started exhibiting unusual behavior. Then, she realized the rowdy pup was her own dog, Emma — whom she hadn’t seen in months.Emma and Campbell were reunited on Friday, Feb. 7, five months after the pet first went missing, according to 2nd Chance Shelter in Boaz, Ala., who shared the story of the duo’s touching — and fateful — reunion in aFacebookpost on Wednesday, Feb. 12.The 3-year-old pup, whom the shelter described as an “inside dog,” first disappeared after she went outside to use the bathroom, according to the post. Campbell searched high and low, but Emma was nowhere to be found.“She had been searching for her everywhere,” Jenny Harris, an assistant manager at 2nd Chance, told theCentre Daily Times. “She had gone door to door, checking all the sites and just called around trying to find her. But nobody in the whole neighborhood had seen her.”Cheyenne Campbell’s dog Emma.2nd Chance Shelter/FacebookThe shelter echoed this on Facebook, writing that the pup’s family “thought someone had picked her up" — and “thought they would never see her again.”And they were partially correct. As Emma’s family suspected, someone had picked her up. “A lady had found her a few months ago and tried to find her family to no avail,” the shelter wrote, adding that after months of searching, she “finally” brought the dog to the Boaz shelter on Feb. 7.After arriving at the shelter office, Emma “was very nervous,” according to 2nd Chance. But her behavior changed after Campbell, a staff member at the shelter, walked in the room.When she heard her owner talking, Emma “went crazy wagging her tail and jumping,” the shelter said. And when Campbell realized the reason for the hubbub, she — like her pup — couldn’t hide her relief.“Emma ran straight to her, and she picked her up and just started licking her all in the face,” Harris recalled toCentre Daily Times. “Cheyenne started crying, which made us all teary. And we couldn’t believe it.”“We were very excited because you could see how much she loved her mama,” added the assistant manager.According to 2nd Chance, the woman who found Emma and later brought her into the shelter lives about 10 miles from the dog’s home.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.“We are all so happy that she was found and nothing bad had happened to her before she was rescued and reunited with her family,” the organization wrote on Facebook. “It was surely fate that brought Emma to the shelter where her mama works.”The shelter finished off the post, which included a sweet reunion snapshot of the long-missing dog with Campbell and the rest of her family: “Go enjoy your second chance in life with your family Emma.”

Cheyenne Campbell was working a normal animal shelter shift when a dog who had just been dropped off started exhibiting unusual behavior. Then, she realized the rowdy pup was her own dog, Emma — whom she hadn’t seen in months.

Emma and Campbell were reunited on Friday, Feb. 7, five months after the pet first went missing, according to 2nd Chance Shelter in Boaz, Ala., who shared the story of the duo’s touching — and fateful — reunion in aFacebookpost on Wednesday, Feb. 12.

The 3-year-old pup, whom the shelter described as an “inside dog,” first disappeared after she went outside to use the bathroom, according to the post. Campbell searched high and low, but Emma was nowhere to be found.

“She had been searching for her everywhere,” Jenny Harris, an assistant manager at 2nd Chance, told theCentre Daily Times. “She had gone door to door, checking all the sites and just called around trying to find her. But nobody in the whole neighborhood had seen her.”

Cheyenne Campbell’s dog Emma.2nd Chance Shelter/Facebook

The shelter echoed this on Facebook, writing that the pup’s family “thought someone had picked her up” — and “thought they would never see her again.”

And they were partially correct. As Emma’s family suspected, someone had picked her up. “A lady had found her a few months ago and tried to find her family to no avail,” the shelter wrote, adding that after months of searching, she “finally” brought the dog to the Boaz shelter on Feb. 7.

After arriving at the shelter office, Emma “was very nervous,” according to 2nd Chance. But her behavior changed after Campbell, a staff member at the shelter, walked in the room.

When she heard her owner talking, Emma “went crazy wagging her tail and jumping,” the shelter said. And when Campbell realized the reason for the hubbub, she — like her pup — couldn’t hide her relief.

“Emma ran straight to her, and she picked her up and just started licking her all in the face,” Harris recalled toCentre Daily Times. “Cheyenne started crying, which made us all teary. And we couldn’t believe it.”

“We were very excited because you could see how much she loved her mama,” added the assistant manager.

According to 2nd Chance, the woman who found Emma and later brought her into the shelter lives about 10 miles from the dog’s home.

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“We are all so happy that she was found and nothing bad had happened to her before she was rescued and reunited with her family,” the organization wrote on Facebook. “It was surely fate that brought Emma to the shelter where her mama works.”

The shelter finished off the post, which included a sweet reunion snapshot of the long-missing dog with Campbell and the rest of her family: “Go enjoy your second chance in life with your family Emma.”

source: people.com