Rescue dog escapes new owners and walks 40 miles to ex-home that got rid of him
Fans of Homeward Bound may recognise this story - after a Golden Retriever decided to make his own way back to his previous owner after being adopted.
Cooper was missing for nearly a month covering an estimated 40 miles of ground after making a break for it just hours after being brought to his new home in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland.
The hardy pooch had been sent to a kennels with brother George by his previous owners who were sadly no longer to care for him when he was welcomed into a new family with another canine friend, Molly.
But moments after meeting his new room mate, Cooper made a dash for it, going on to evade a search party for an incredible 25 days in which he survived by himself, Belfast Live reports.
Missing pets charity Lost Paws NI have calculated he walked more than 40 miles alone through back woods and along main roads, moving mostly at night.
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Cooper is now back with his forever family (Nigel Fleming)
The hardy pooch was gone for nearly a month (Lost Paws NI)Cooper impressively managed to survive without any humans to feed him, until he got back to his old stomping ground where he had been before the kennels.
His new owners have said they are baffled as to how Cooper avoided traffic and human contact, darting into secret safety holes to bed down.
He even avoided the sheep farmers watchful over new born lambs at the height of their busiest season as he flanked Co Tyrone farmlands.
Cooper travelled from the town centre of Dungannon to Cookstown to Magherafelt and finally to the place he had been a puppy, Tobermore, 26 miles as the crow flies, 40-plus by the Golden Retriever.
Meanwhile his frantic new family desperately searched for the pooch.
He made an incredible 40 mile journey back to his former owners' home (Google)New owner Nigel Fleming, a photographer from Dungannon, Co Tyrone, said he "had literally driven from the dog pound to my home" when he bolted.
"I'd met Cooper a few days before in the hope he'd be good company for my Golden Retriever, Molly."
Nigel said he'd have loved to take both Cooper and George, but said "three big Goldens would have been too much for me to look after".
"But I was just about to get the dogs out of the car on their leads for their first walk together when Cooper bolted. He literally jumped over Molly, prized the car door open enough to get past me and ran for it.
"It was a disaster. The poor boy had no idea where he was and he was in the wind. I tried to chase after him but he was gone in an instant - so then the search was on."
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Cooper dashed on April 1 and was not discovered until Wednesday earlier this week, with Nigel organising searches with other dog owners and blasting social media with appeals.
Missing posters and appeals were put out everywhere for him (Lost Paws NI)
Search parties refused to give up on Cooper (Lost Paws NI)"I was determined not to give up on him," he added.
"In the end all we had to do was follow a dog's nose home to familiar surroundings. If only we'd known, we could have saved big Cooper all that anxiety.
Thankfully, the mischievous dog is now safe and getting used to his new surroundings, with the last three weeks reminding Nigel of his "faith in humanity".
"I don't really have the words to explain the gratitude I feel."
A spokesperson for Lost Paws NI, said: "Cooper is a clever boy. Instinct took him back to a place he was familiar with.
"How he did it, I'll never know but he managed it. No food, no shelter, no help, just dogged determination and that incredible nose.
"We had searches in place, day and night and we had tracked him back to a spot where we lost him again but now we know he was almost back in the area where he'd started before he was given to the dog pound.
"It seems incredible that he was able to do this - but dogs are incredible and that's what we work to hard to help them every day."
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