Lost dog reappears after nine years

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The owners of a German Shepherd named Astro that disappeared in Florida nine years ago say they were shocked to hear the dog turned up in Tennessee.

Linda Geary, who now lives with her family in Louisville, Ky., said an animal control officer in Tennessee contacted them nearly three weeks ago to say Astro had been found, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Friday.

"It's still a real shock that he is actually here," Geary said. "We are getting use to the fact that we don't know where he has been or who had him, but he's our dog and has always been our dog."

Astro vanished nine years ago while the Gearys were living in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The family then relocated three times, ending up in Louisville. Astros was found running loose in St. Bethlehem, Tenn., and animal control officers tracked down the Geary family through a microchip implanted in him.

Geary's husband, Dennis, told the Sun-Sentinel it was like no time had passed at all when Astro was reunited with the family recently.

"They brought him out and he just sat down and licked both me and my oldest stepson," he said. "He was like, where have you been?"