Missing therapy dog reunited with family months after disappearing in Detroit

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A therapy dog is back home with his family months after he disappeared while someone was watching him at a Detroit home.

Laurice Washington was on a surprise trip to the Bahamas in June. When she got home, she found out her Shih Tzu Bailey was gone.

Monday, Bailey and Washington had an emotional reunion.

"Oh my God, I can't even describe it," she said. "I've got a lot of challenges ahead of me, but I'm a lot better because I got my Bailey."

A call was made Sunday to the Detroit Pit Crew that Bailey was trapped in a cement recess at Sherwood Heights Apartments on the west side. Tenants were feeding him, but couldn't get too close.

"We got a ladder and got into the enclosure and lifted him out into a crate," said Theresa Sumpter with Detroit Pit Crew.

Bailey was found about two miles from where he had disappeared while staying with a friend of Washington.

The dog was skinny and dirty with an eye infection when he was found.

"How he survived the streets of Detroit for the past two months, that's a mystery," Sumpter said.

Washington said she has had thousands of people reach out to her as she searched for her therapy pet that helped her through two open-heart surgeries and other health issues.

"People say there is no good in this world, but there is, and I've met a lot of friends along the way," she said.