After nearly seven weeks, long-lost Louie reunited with grateful owner

Here’s a bit of good news for you. Louie, that two-year old black Lab missing since October, has been found safe and returned to his owner J.J. Pierce.

A huge push to find Louie was aided by an active social media presence, billboards and even a $3,000 reward for information on the dog’s whereabouts. In the end,  it was the never ending hope of Pierce and the exhaustive search efforts of a community that ultimately reunited a long-lost pup with its owner.

Louie was sitting inside Pierce’s car in the parking lot of the Home Depot on Columbus Blvd. on Oct. 9 when the car was stolen. The car had been found, but Louie remained missing. While certainly discouraging, it only seemed to increase the search efforts.

According to reports, an unidentified couple got in touch with Team Louie, the large Facebook community dedicated to help find the dog, late last week to say they had found a dog that matched Louie’s description.  Sure enough, after nearly seven weeks of searching, it was Louie. Pierce told CBS3 about the moment they were reunited: “He walked up to me and just like, started nuzzling me…”

The story behind the reunion of Pierce and Louie seems unreal. Here’s a snippet of how it went down via Pierce through the Facebook page:

All I know is this: We were contacted with a tip that someone knew his location, photo confirmation was sent, and the incredible team of people working with me jumped into action and met up with the amazing people that then delivered my boy. I was unaware of everything that was taking place behind the scenes until I got a call from a member of my team last night telling me that we finally had a good lead and that I needed to come meet an informant immediately. I showed up fully expecting a shady discussion in a car, not even remotely anticipating the beautiful reunion that was about to take place. Louie recognized me before I recognized him, and it wasn’t until he was nuzzling my face that I realized it was actually him. I began to sob as I heard my team tell me that he had already been scanned for a chip and his identity had been confirmed. We were in the parking lot of the Animal Hospital with a room ready for Louie. He was pronounced emaciated but in good health, aside from a raw spot where the remnants of his harness (!) had been cutting into his skin. Following his check-up, I was told I could finally bring my Louie home.

You can read the entire update, including how about how Louie is feeling, right here.