Lost dog Duke reunites with his owner after trip to Aussie city 500km away
A dog has been reunited with its owner 500km away from where it went missing.
Duke's human Kevin, 86, last saw his beloved dog at their property in Narrabri, on the North West Slopes of NSW, on November 10.
Eight days later, Duke was spotted wandering around The Palms restaurant in Terrey Hills on Sydney's northern beaches.
A couple who worked at the restaurant, Ricky and Taylor, spent days trying to find Jack Russel's owners, while Kevin and his granddaughter continued to search their home.
Taylor and Ricky had no idea how Duke ended up so far from home, but after checking his microchip, they were able to find Kevin's phone number.
Kevin, 86, was reunited with his Jack Russel Duke, 5, more than a week after the dog somehow traveled 517km from Narrabri to Sydney's northern beaches
Ricky and his partner Taylor found Duke when he came across their workplace and the pair then spent the next three days trying to reach Kevin.
When they couldn't get through, a vet told them that Duke could be held overnight before being given the pound, but that he would be euthanized within weeks if no one claimed him.
“We told the vet we would keep him with us,” Ricky told Yahoo News.
“It got to the point where we thought we had a second dog now.”
The couple posted a message on Facebook asking if they recognized Duke, while a Northern Beaches council member called Kevin throughout the day.
'Yesterday after the repeated call from [a] landline linked to his microchip, the Northern Beaches Council call was picked up,” Ricky wrote in a status update after the councilor finally reached Kevin.
Duke was then sent in a pet Uber to meet Kevin in Newcastle.
“Duke spent about five days commuting and then walked in on our family for three days. How he covered the distance [is] very unknown.'
Kevin said he believes Duke simply hitched a ride with someone who was heading to the coast before being found by Taylor and Ricky at the restaurant.
The couple posted photos of Duke on Facebook in the hope that Kevin would see them and an update to the post revealed that the dog has since returned to Narrabri in an Uber pet.