“I missed years with her,” Vanessa Antonino said of reuniting with her chihuahua, Flor
Credit: Griffith Indiana Animal Control & Shelter
NEED TO KNOW
- Vanessa Antonino was reunited with her chihuahua, Flor, who had been missing for nearly 12 years
- Flor was found stranded in Indiana after severe weather and identified through her microchip by volunteers
- “I went and saw her. I just bawled. I broke down completely,” owner Vanessa Antonino said of reuniting with Flor
A woman in Illinois was reunited with her chihuahua, who was missing for nearly 12 years.
Vanessa Antonino and her dog, Flor, were brought back together after the tiny dog arrived at an Indiana animal shelter, the Griffith Indiana Animal Control & Shelter in Gary, Ind. At the time of Flor’s disappearance, Antonino was living in and out of her car, Evanston Animal Shelter Canine Director Tanya Ohanian tells PEOPLE. She explains that Antonino kept Flor in the car while she worked because she had nowhere else to put her and “didn’t want to give her up.”
“And then one day she went to her car, and the dog was just gone,” Ohanian, who helped facilitate the reunion, says. They now believe Flor was stolen because, if Flor was missing, animal control would typically post a notice about the missing dog.
Credit: Evanston Animal Shelter
Ohanian explains how Antonino felt so guilty, telling her, “‘I had no money, I had no resources. Like I tried my best to find her, and I just like I couldn’t find her.’ ”
In the years since, Antonino has continued to look for her and “never stopped thinking about her baby,” the Griffith Indiana Animal Control & Shelter wrote in a Facebook post. Antonino “held onto the hope that somehow, somewhere, [Flor] was okay.”
Antonino often prayed that Flor was taken care of and that she was worried Flor might died due to old age, Ohanian says.
Credit: Griffith Indiana Animal Control & Shelter
Then years later, Flor was found on the side of the road in Indiana, stranded after severe weather rolled through, Ohanian exclusively tells PEOPLE. A volunteer, who traveled from Louisiana to help with storm damage, found Flor and took her to Griffith Indiana Animal Control & Shelter, per NBC 5.
Once at the shelter, volunteers worked with Microchip Hunters and used her microchip to track down her owner. The company is known for finding owners even when the microchip information is outdated.
They then contacted Antonino and told her the good news. “When I got the phone call, the first phone call, they’re like, ‘Is this Vanessa? I’m like, ‘Yes.’ And they’re like, ‘We have Flor.’ And I was like, I was thinking back, I was like, ‘Flor?’ I’m like, ‘I hadn’t heard her name in years!’ ” Antonino told CBS Chicago.
The Indiana shelter and Microchip Hunters worked with the Evanston Animal Shelter in Evanston, Ill., to reunite the dog with Antonino. One day later, a volunteer “dropped everything” and offered to make the drive to pick up Flor and assist with the “fast and awesome” reunion, Ohanian says.
“The reunion was so emotional. One that was written in the stars,” the Evanston Animal Shelter wrote in a Facebook post.
Credit: Evanston Animal Shelter
“I went and saw her. I just bawled. I broke down completely,” Antonino said, per NBC 5. “She was back with me. A piece of my heart was back with me.”
“I missed years with her, her knowing her brothers, like, her human brothers. They all know about her,” Antonino told CBS Chicago. “When they saw her, they’re like, ‘Oh my God, Ma.’ They’re like, ‘Our sister is home!’ ”
Credit: Evanston Animal Shelter
The years that Antonino and Flor were separated felt like a “lifetime,” Ohanian says.
Maddie Ratkowski, an Evanston Animal Shelter volunteer, tells PEOPLE the amount of time is shocking. “[Flor] is like 16 now, and you know, chihuahuas they kind of live forever. But it’s amazing, especially for a dog, like 12 years later to get back to their owner. That’s just unheard of.”
“Every time that I start talking about it to people or anything, I get emotional,” Ratkowski adds. “It’s such a heartwarming and touching story. And something that doesn’t happen very often, that you find an animal that is this far in their life, and then they’re able to be reunited with their original owner.”
Ohanian says, “The stars aligned for this, and it was just perfect.”
Credit: Evanston Animal Shelter
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PEOPLE reached out to Griffith Indiana Animal Control & Shelter for comment.
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