Missing San Diego dog found in Michigan months later, reunited with family

Lilly Houman, 5, considers Mishka, a 3-year-old Chihuahua/Terrier mix, her little sister.

Lilly's parents, Elizabeth and Mehrad Houman, spent weeks searching for a way to tell their daughter Mishka was missing when the dog got out of the family car at an auto shop in July 2023.

“[Lilly] would say ‘I miss Mishka.’ I’m like, ‘I miss her too,’” said Elizabeth Houman.

For months, Lilly did not have her hind-leg dancing partner, and Elizabeth Houman was missing her "mama's girl." They hung posters and had friends from both sides of the U.S.—Mexico border searching for Mishka. The family never lost hope.

“Never, ever, ever. I just felt that we were going to get her back. We kept her bed, everything,” said Elizabeth Houman.

During those long months, Elizabeth Houman brought a leash everywhere she went, and any dog that looked like Mishka caught her attention. She managed to find a family's missing cat and see it reunited, but still, no word on her dog.

That changed at the end of March, when the family got a notification that Mishka's microchip number had been found more than 2,000 miles away in suburban Detroit.

“Whoever found her, we cannot thank them enough,” said Elizabeth Houman. “I think it’s just magic, I think there’s angels looking down, you know, surrounding us and watching us and praying for us, and I really truly think we were meant to have her back.”

Police in Harper Woods responded to a call about a stray dog last week, picked up the terrier mix and contacted an animal welfare group.

The Grosse Pointe Animal Adoption Society said it quickly discovered that the dog, named Mishka, had an identity chip implanted in her with information about her owners.

The family live iwas planning to travel to Minnesota when the call came in. Mehrad Houman landed there and then drove 10 hours to Michigan for a reunion with Mishka, the adoption group said on a Facebook post with pictures and video.

“We think it was stolen and then it was sold and ended up in Michigan,” said Corinne Martin, director of the animal welfare group.

Veterinarian Nancy Pillsbury examined 3-year-old Mishka, gave her a rabies shot and cleared her to travel home to California.

“She was clean, well-fed. Whoever had her took good care of her,” Pillsbury told The Associated Press. “How she got here — that's a story only Mishka knows."