{"id":96236,"date":"2025-12-16T04:07:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T04:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/96236\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T04:07:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T04:07:07","slug":"dog-who-disappeared-from-california-home-in-2021-found-in-michigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/96236\/","title":{"rendered":"Dog who disappeared from California home in 2021 found in Michigan"},"content":{"rendered":"

An \u201cescape artist\u201d dog who disappeared from its California home in 2021 was miraculously found tied to a fence at a shelter more than 2,000 miles away \u2014 just in time for a \u201cChristmas miracle\u201d as its confounded owners try to piece together their pup\u2019s years-long journey.<\/p>\n

Patricia Orozco\u2019s wirehaired Dachshund mix named Choco vanished from her Sacramento home in 2021. Since then, she and her husband welcomed two children, but Orozco told The Washington Post <\/a>that she still talked about Choco all the time. <\/p>\n

Patricia Orozco\u2019s missing dog, Choco, was found tied to a fence in Michigan. CBS Detroit<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have a pet disappear, everything races through your mind.\u2026Is he alive? Is he okay? Is he being treated well?\u201d she told the outlet.<\/p>\n

Then, in early December, Orozco received a text from a microchip company claiming Choco had been found in a town called Lincoln. She first assumed that the pup was in Lincoln, Calif., just 30 miles north of Sacramento. <\/p>\n

Choco, now 11, disappeared five years ago. CBS Detroit<\/p>\n

In the five years he was missing, Choco, somehow trekked all the way to Lincoln, Michigan \u2014 2,300 miles away from Orozco\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

Choco was found tied to a fence outside the Lincoln Park Animal Shelter, according to the nonprofit group Helping Paws and Claws<\/a>. Orozco scrambled to arrange for Choco\u2019s safe return, but wasn\u2019t sure how she would juggle their reunion with caring for her children, including a 4-month-old.<\/p>\n

Cindy Walden, a former animal control officer and board member of Helping Paws and Claws, stepped in to help. She asked for donations to cover Choco\u2019s airfare online and was quickly aided by charitable strangers, including Penny Scott, a local animal rescue volunteer who offered to help ensure Choco\u2019s safe transfer by making the journey herself, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n

Choco was found more than 2,000 miles away from his California home. CBS Detroit<\/p>\n

Another community member covered the airfare with their stockpiled airline miles. Scott was able to spend some quality time with Choco after the pair missed their connecting flight back to California. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis dog was amazing; never whimpered, never growled at anybody. I walked him through the airport on a leash the whole time,\u201d Scott told the outlet.<\/p>\n

Orozco was just glad Choco didn\u2019t run off again during their stint at the airport, as she told the outlet while her pup had always been sweet and calm, he had a penchant for scampering off.<\/p>\n

A microchip company let Orozco know her dog had been located. CBS Detroit<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a sneaky door dasher. He was basically like Forrest Gump, but the dog version,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Orozco said she was beside herself when Choco, now 11, was finally back in her arms as she reflected on her grief and stubborn refusal to consider adopting another dog after losing her mutt. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is seriously a Christmas miracle,\u201d she told the outlet.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s still the same, most loving, cuddly, always wants to be on-top-of-you dog,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Orozco said she\u2019s installed a double gate to make sure Choco never escapes again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An \u201cescape artist\u201d dog who disappeared from its California home in 2021 was miraculously found tied to a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,2116,1810,795,52823,3586],"class_list":{"0":"post-96236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-dogs","12":"tag-good-news","13":"tag-michigan","14":"tag-reunion","15":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}