Heartbroken dog owner Patricia Savoini never gave up hope after her pet Alsatian was stolen from Accrington in 2010.
Alsatian Sultan disappeared from Patricia’s back garden and, despite a desperate and long search, there was no trace of him.
But the six-year saga had a heartwarming and remarkable ending when she was emotionally reunited with her long lost pet after vets 300 miles away in Devon identified him.
Grandmother-of-15 Patricia never lost hope, but still could hardly believe it when she was contacted earlier this month to say that Sultan, who had been microchipped, had been located in Torquay after being taken to a vet.
The beloved family pet, now 12, had been re-homed in 2011 and was now owned by an 88-year-old widower.
Patricia, 58, travelled from her home to south Devon last weekend with the intention of picking up Sultan, now called Buck, and bringing him back home.
However, when she arrived at his new home she could not bring herself to take him away from his new owner and leave him ‘heartbroken’.
Patricia, a care assistant at Greycroft Residential Home on Queen’s Road in Accrington, said she was nevertheless ‘delighted’ to be reunited with Sultan one last time.
She said: “We had everything ready to take Sultan back but I couldn’t do it as it would break that man’s heart.
"He got Sultan from a rescue centre the year after his wife died of dementia. I work with the elderly and know what that’s like so my heart went out to him.
“At the time I was excited to see Sultan, but when it came to fetch him home I couldn’t do it. I saw my dog, he was happy and I got to say goodbye.
"The man said was so relieved when I said I couldn’t take him. He said he’s well looked after and goes sailing every weekend. He lived in a lovely home with lovely gardens.
“Having to leave Sultan was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. He was a member of my family.”
When Sultan first disappeared Patricia reported him missing to the dog warden, Aspen Valley and the RSCPA but they said they had had no sightings of him.
She added: “I put posters up and on social media. I did everything in my power to try and get my dog back. I couldn’t believe it when the police told me they had found him.”
Patricia said she hopes new legislation making it compulsory for all dogs to be micro-chipped from April this year will help reunite more stolen dogs with their owners.
She said: “When people go to get them chipped it will come to the surface. It’s a good thing this has been made law.”
