NEW CANEY – A family in New Caney is whole again after losing their dog days before Hurricane Harvey slammed into Houston. Maddie, a mix between a Schnauzer and a terror, is finally back home Sunday tonight thanks to a rescue group and the power of social media.
Maddie’s family never replaced her.
“In dog years, Maddie is 108. She’s loving and kind and obedient,” said owner Rachel Koster.
For the past three years, Maddie has been on a journey. She got lost after the Koster’s moved to their home in New Caney from the Woodlands.
“We had a friend here to help me unpack and we think she went out with my friend because we looked for her after that point and couldn’t find her,” Koster said.
The Kosters continued to search for months and started losing hope of finding Maddie.
“After you search for so long, you just assume the worst,” she said.
Earlier this week, Rachel’s mother called her and said someone knew where Maddie was.
“At first, we thought it might have been a scam, but it really was our dog,” she said.
“Amazingly, I was just so happy that I could be part of that,” said Gayle Tebon, a volunteer with The Forgotten Pet Advocates, a nonprofit organization that rescues and helps pets.
Tebon spotted Maddie in Sugar Land on Friday.
“She was just in the busy streets, so I pulled over and picked her up,” she said.
Meet Maddie! 🐶After 3 years, she was finally reunited with her family. She got lost days before Hurricane Harvey hit. The family in New Caney almost gave up until a rescue group found her in Sugar land. Catch the heartwarming story at 10 on @KPRC2 and watch how she found. pic.twitter.com/IanT08CUor
— Re'Chelle Turner (@KPRC2ReChelle) February 8, 2021
Tebon said she took Maddie to the vet and found out she was micro-chipped.
“And apparently the microchip information had not been updated,” Tebon said.
She posted a picture of Maddie on Facebook hoping someone would recognize her. A volunteer from another organization named, ‘Lost Dogs of Texas’ stepped in and used a special database to find Maddie’s owner.
“We have agreements with all the microchip companies that they will disclose to us personal information, which is ordinarily kept private,” said Marilyn Litt, the director of Lost Dogs of Texas.
The volunteer from Lost Dogs of Texas was able to contact Rachel’s mother and Maddie was finally reunited with her family.
“Thank you. We are so grateful, and we feel like the hand of God was in it to get our dog back,” Koster said.
“It was so worth it! It just felt like it was faked that day she just happens to walk across the street. I happened to work in rescuing animals and turns out she had been missing for three years,” Tebon said.
Lost dogs of Texas said thousands of dogs are lost every year. They say it’s so critical to update your pet’s microchip information if you change your number or move.
Koster said Maddie still has the same personality and they’re spending time playing and having fun.