In 2014, a Wisconsin man named Jose went through some tough times. After a divorce, he lost his house and was living in his car with Chaos, the dog he’d had since he was a puppy.
“Chaos helped me through so much in my life,” Jose said, according to the Winnebago County Animal Services Facebook page. “I took him everywhere with me.”
To improve his dog’s life — Chaos got his name from being big and full of energy — a friend of a friend took Chaos in until Jose could find a better living situation.
But when Jose was ready to reclaim Chaos three months later, the friend’s friend refused to give him the dog. Jose didn’t think he would ever see his beloved Chaos again.
Fast forward two years. On April 27, an employee of Winnebago County Animal Services found a stray dog on her driveway. He was brought to the shelter and checked for a microchip. Lo and behold, he indeed had a tag with a 2014 identification number.
Someone from the shelter called the contact phone number, and Jose answered.
“I couldn’t get to the shelter fast enough. I couldn’t wait for it to open to see Chaos,” Jose said.
Chaos was a little scared and apprehensive at first when he was reunited with his original dog dad, but after shyly approaching him and sniffing his hand, his fear quickly disappeared — as you can see in the heart-tugging video.
“I couldn’t be any happier. I feel amazing!” Jose said. After their joyous reunion, he drove Chaos home, about 90 minutes away. At first Chaos kept trying to climb into Jose’s lap. Then he settled down, and rested his head on his dog dad’s shoulder for the entire trip.
At home, Jose introduced Chaos to another dog he had adopted.
“As soon as they met, they started playing and running around, acting like they have been together since they were puppies,” Jose said.
Chaos could be a poster dog for microchipping your pets.
“Pay the microchip fee!” Jose said. “That fee versus never seeing your animal again is totally worth it.”
Photo via Facebook