Stolen Colorado dog discovered five years later in Missouri

FESTUS, Mo., Sept. 22 (UPI) -- A volunteer at an animal shelter in Missouri helped track the owner of a dog stolen from its home in Colorado five years earlier.

Animal control officers discovered the stray dog with outdated microchip information, but volunteer Melissa Morton managed to track down the St. Bernard's family, KMOV reported.

"She's better. She had a bath, she had fleas and they gave her some medicine for her skin condition," Morton said.

The dog's original owner Brenda Mahaffey said she and her two special-needs daughters adopted the dog, Missy, from an animal shelter in Colorado and planned to train it as a special needs service dog.

"I'm really excited, my daughters excited. I just want to cry I'm so excited," she said.

Jefferson county waived all fees and veterinary bills and Morton planned continue her efforts to reunite Missy with Mahaffey and her family by personally driving the dog to Colorado, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"I immediately volunteered to drive the dog to Pueblo, Colo.," she said. "I didn't even think twice. I knew I could get off work. My boss has a special-needs child."

Mahaffey said she bought treats to welcome Missy home and hopes to pick up where she left off with the stolen dog.

"We're going to go for walks and then I'm going to take her to a park like we used to," she said.