GASTONIA, N.C. — A California woman and her dog were reunited on Saturday -- seven years after she said someone stole him.
Early Saturday morning, Kelly Accettola and “Bemis" reconnected at the Wilkinson Animal Hospital in Gastonia.
:quality(70)/mediaweb.wsoctv.com/photo/2017/02/18/AKC%20Dog%20Reunited%20with%20Owner1_20170218172353942_7346541_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg)
:quality(70)/mediaweb.wsoctv.com/photo/2017/02/18/AKC%20Dog%20Reunited%20with%20Owner3_20170218172354281_7346543_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg)
Bemis was microchipped at the time someone stolen him in 2011, and in December a woman in Gastonia found the dog.
Accettola said she received a letter just days ago from a company that tracks down owners of pets with microchips. Accettola, an Army veteran, has moved several times and changed her number since Bemis was stolen seven years ago in the Charlotte area.
She had given up hope she'd ever seen him again -- until this week.
"I'm so grateful, and when I saw his little face, it was like nothing had ever changed,” she told Channel 9. “I just can't believe it."
She flew into Charlotte from San Diego to be reunited with her dog.
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/KPLD2RRVKVCKZGI5A7I4HPEVOM.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/U67N26WGPRFIVAVO4NI2O27AUM.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/RPN5TVSZLNF3VKJ5TSNOMMUV5E.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/V75YK7XFINFBRNT3Q7IRVK6XZQ.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/QCVJPFH675EEBAMIQGPFVV3ZOM.jpeg)