Delaware County Animal Control scanned a stray dog's microchip Thursday afternoon in Chester County to find it belonged to someone in North Carolina. A month after his disappearance, Max is finally returning to his owner, Traci Harrison, tonight.
Around Nov. 17 or 18, Max escaped from Traci's backyard in High Point, North Carolina. Her father had just gone into the hospital for organ failure and she was staying with him around the clock. Traci didn't realize her dog was gone until the morning of Wednesday Nov. 19 when he didn't come running for his food.
"It was a tough time," she said. "His nickname is Houdini," she continued on a lighter note, describing her dog's tendency to disappear. "He likes to dig. He squeezed between the chain link fence and brick of the house, miraculously, and got out."
No one other than Max knows exactly what happened next, but he was probably picked up by someone who drove with him north into Pennsylvania. He then escaped for the second time and was picked up by Eddystone Police after some kids reported a friendly, stray dog, according to the Philadelphia Animal Hospital.
After a quick scan of Max's chip in their truck, Animal Control Officer Lisa Stewart thought he was a rescue, brought up north by a local shelter. After some investigation, Control reached out to Traci who was driving home with a pizza when she got the call Thursday, exactly a month after Max's disappearance.
"I was trying to write down the information on the pizza box in the car," she said describing how her initial confusion during the call turned to elation. "I didn't think I'd ever see him again. Just the perfect Christmas present for me."
Max is set to board a plane Friday for the hour and a half journey home from Philadelphia International Airport. Traci, 42, can barely contain her excitement.
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"I just wanna squeeze him to death. I just want to sit on the floor at the airport and let time stand still because it's my buddy. I just can't wait to see him. I'm going out right now to get some new toys."
She says Max, three and a half, is amazing, protective, and like an old soul, "a little old lady's perfect little lap dog."
