June Rountree had a picture in her head of the reunion with her missing dog, imagining the 4-year-old, black and white pooch would be waiting in front of their house one day when she came home from work.
Abby was apparently looking for something more dramatic
Rountree was at her register at the Walmart in Dothan, Alabama, Nov. 28 when she heard a commotion, looked up and saw a dog inside the store. Staffers chased the pup through a few aisles. Customer Service associate Danielle Robinette saw the pooch was looking at people, “like she was looking for someone.”
“I said, ‘It can’t be,’ ” Rountree told the Washington Post. “I called her name and she came to me,” Rountree said. “I bent over and hugged her. I completely lost it then. I couldn’t speak. I was in complete shock and just couldn’t believe it” said the happy dog mom, who had begun to lose hope that she’d find the pup again after she’d been on the loose for so long.
It’s not exactly clear how Abby, who had been missing for 20 days, knew where to find Rountree. She has worked at that Walmart, about 1.5 miles from their home and across two heavily-traveled roads, for 10 years. She had walked the lab-pitbull mix in the parking lot and nearby woods, but Abby had never before been inside the store.
It’s also not clear where Abby was for her three weeks on the lam.
She had broken her collar and escaped from the yard where she was chained, and Rountree and her husband had scoured their neighborhood every night looking for her, and checked the local shelter repeatedly with no luck.
The reunion was captured by Robinette, who posted the story on Facebook. It now has over 10,000 shares.