THIS is the incredible moment a dog who had been mysteriously missing for a week returned home on Christmas Eve – and let her owners know by ringing the doorbell.
Athena, a 4-year-old German Shepherd and Husky mix, escaped her Florida home on December 15, which prompted a huge search.
CNNThere’s someone at the door[/caption]
CNNAthena returns home after nobody knows why or how she escaped[/caption]
CNNAthena makes sure to ring the doorbell just in case nobody heard her[/caption]
The unbelievable footage shows the pooch jump up onto the door to alert her owners after nine days away and then casually wait to be let in.
The door then opens for Athena and she returns home as if nothing had ever happened.
The ordeal began after Athena’s owner, Brooke Comer, went to Church and got a message from her neighbor showing the pooch outside the house.
Brooke’s family rushed home to the Green Cove Springs residence, only to find her collar in her crate and no idea as to how Athena escaped.
Somehow, Athena kept evading the family, as they received constant alerts from people in neighboring towns with sightings of the escapee.
Reports of Athena sightings poured in, suggesting she had roamed nearly 20 miles during her adventure.
At every sighting, Brooke and her family would go to the spot within minutes and search for Athena only to have their hearts broken.
The entire search was a terrifying and scary experience for Brooke, who was worried about where her already skittish dog could have gone or could have encountered.
Brooke said: “With every sighting my heart jumped, and it honestly was excitement and then your heart’s crushed because we were always one step behind.
“She was the hide-and-seek all time grand champion.”
Then, a Christmas miracle happened when Athena miraculously rung the doorbell on Tuesday, to the shock of Brooke and the family.
At 2.30am the house’s Ring camera showed that the pup had returned.
Brooke added: “I was kind of like in a daze, and the dog was barking, and as soon as I heard that ring, I looked at my phone and you could see in the video it was Athena and she was jumping at the door, ringing the doorbell.”
Upon her arrival, Athena reportedly ran straight to Brooke’s son, who was half-asleep on the couch and wasn’t expecting the return of his fury friend.
Athena gave him a face full of licks, grabbed her ball and returned to her cage.
Brooke said the experience gave so much hope because of the neighbors and the large community looking for Athena for the past week.
The family‘s next steps include a thorough veterinary exam, flea and tick treatments, and getting microchipped to ensure she can always find her way home.
It is not thought that Athena suffered any injuries on her expedition.
It remains a mystery as to how the dog escaped the home in the first place, and there are no reports of a police investigation at this time.
CNNAthena’s owner Brooke thanked the community for looking out for her beloved pooch[/caption]
CNNThe family plans to get Athena microchipped to make sure nothing like this happens again[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
