Tearjerking moment boy is reunited with his beloved pug Piper after the dog went missing for two weeks
- April Elizabeth Licata lost hope she would find pug Piper after she disappeared
- After going missing from the yard Piper was found in a New York animal shelter
- Mother decided to film the dog’s emotional reunion with her son Carter
This is the heartwarming moment a boy is reunited with his dog who had been missing for two and a half weeks after disappearing from the family’s yard.
April Elizabeth Licata let her son’s dog Piper out to ‘go potty’ on November 18, but when she called the pug back in, she was nowhere to be seen.
As the weeks went by the mother and her two eldest children Carter, 14, and Natalie from Byron, New York, began to give up hope that they would find the pup after searching the community.
The two-year-old dog had been given to Carter as a very special 12th birthday gift after the family were forced to give their previous pug away due to a younger child’s illness years before.
Just as they were about to accept that the dog was gone for good Ms Licata said she received a message from a nearby animal shelter saying that they had found a dog that looked like Piper.
Ms Licata said: ‘It had been a long two and a half weeks for my oldest two children, Carter and Natalie, thinking they would never see their puppy again.
The family from Byron, New York, began to give up hope that they would find the pup after searching the community. Ms Licata decided to surprise her son with the dog after it had been found
‘But then, amazingly we got a message this Monday night that a dog that looked like Piper had been picked up and taken to the animal shelter.
Planning a special reunion the mother decided to film the moment Piper (pictured) picked Carter up from school
‘I was truly shocked. We had all resigned ourselves to the reality that she probably wouldn’t come back.
‘Low and behold, it was her! Seeing her little tail wag as she came out from the back of the Genesee County Animal Shelter where she had been so well taken can of, I lost it!!’
Planning a special reunion the mother decided to film the moment she picked Carter up from school with the little pug.
She said: ‘Carter and Natalie were out of town for a few days with their dads family, and so I hoped to make their reunions special.
‘This video is no doubt the embodiment of that! It’s so amazing to see the love, and honestly the video says more than any words I could write.
‘My son loves his dog so much, was sick while she was gone, and tonight she’s sleeping next to him again.
‘What a Christmas miracle for our family and thank you to everyone who helped bring Piper home.’
Ms Licata shared the video to Facebook for her friends two weeks ago, racking up 453,000 views.
She said the dog was especially precious to Carter as he had had another pug at a younger age that the family was forced to give away due to his younger brother being sick.
The mother said the tearful reunion was a ‘Christmas miracle for our family’ and thanked everyone who helped bring Piper home