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Dog found 400 miles from home returns 2 years later

DADE CITY, Fla. (WFLA) — A dog that went missing from Dade City, Florida, two years ago was reunited with his owners Monday after a good Samaritan picked him up on the other side of the state.

Jasmine Noffsinger and her sister spotted Hamm on the street in Pensacola while they were driving home from Starbucks. She said the dog looked thin, and she knew he needed help.


“Something told me that we needed to grab him, so my sister pulled over and we got him in the car,” Noffsinger said.

A veterinarian scanned Hamm’s microchip. After contacting the company the chip was registered with, the dog’s owner was determined to be Patricia DeWit — who lives nearly 450 miles away from Pensacola, in Dade City.

When Noffsinger contacted the dog’s owner, she said DeWit couldn’t believe it. She told Noffdinger that Hamm had been missing since 2021.

They agreed to meet in Tallahassee — halfway between Pensacola and Dade City — that same day.

“While on the way, she FaceTimed me, and I showed her Hamm and she was so over the moon,” Noffsinger said.

In a video of the reunion, Hamm began wagging his tail as soon as the car pulled up. He immediately ran up to DeWit and jumped into her arms as if no time had passed.

“My baby!” his owner exclaimed. “Hamm-Bone!”

The excited pup then hopped into the car, more than ready to return home to Dade City.

“Hamm is doing wonderful!” DeWit said. “He is back to normal, like he has never ever left, and left off where he started.”