German shepherd was stolen years ago. She and Texas family are about to be reunited
Years after Sheba the German shepherd was taken from her Texas home, officials say she was found more than 600 miles away.
Now she is going to be reunited with her family.
An animal control officer found the German shepherd on Monday, Aug. 1, according to a news release from the City of Borger. The officer scanned the dog for a microchip and learned she had one.
“Once he got to the shelter, he looked up the owners information in the microchip database and contacted the owner,” Animal Control Supervisor Darrell Milum said. “When he made contact with the owner she stated that the dog had been stolen 5 YEARS AGO from Baytown, TX.”
Owner Stephanie Moore Malmstrom could hardly believe her stolen dog had been found.
“My initial thought was, ok, ya right, let me guess, I won a cruise and a million dollars also,” she wrote on Facebook. But the officer went on to tell her Sheba had been found walking in a neighborhood.
Her dog was “extremely friendly and jumped right in his truck,” she added. Now Sheba is to be flown home on a private jet with the help of Pilots N Paws.
“Tomorrow is my birthday and this is by far the BEST present I could have ever asked for,” Malmstrom said.
This reunion will come nearly five years after home surveillance video shows Sheba was stolen from her home in January 2018.
“The video shows the passenger exiting the vehicle, walking behind the truck and calling for the dog who was laying under the owners porch,” Chambers County Crime Stoppers said. “The passenger then lifts the dog, putting her in either the cab or bed, then the vehicle drives away.”
The Malmstroms were at their neighbor’s home at the time, KTRK reported in 2018.
“She’s such a loving animal,” Malmstrom told the outlet at the time. “She went right to him, thinking she was going to go for a ride. And she hasn’t been back.”
The Malmstrom family and animal control officials say this story proves the importance of microchipping your pets.
Borger is about 630 miles northwest of Baytown in the Texas panhandle.