Elmhurst Resident Reunited With Her Dog After Eight Years

As soon as Elmhurst resident Caroline Tess heard Addie was alive, she burst into tears.

It had been eight long years since Tess had returned Addie, her sick yellow labrador puppy, to her local pet store. But a recent phone call from Iowa could only be described as a miracle.

The Whole Family was in Love with Her

Addie was born in October 2002, and was purchased by the Tess family from Pete’s Petland in Addison. The whole family fell in love with her.

But in early 2003, when she was just 6 months old, Addie began to have problems. She was not eating and seemed very sick.

“We took Addie to DeVries Animal Hospital in Elmhurst," Tess said. "X-rays showed horrible hip dysplasia. (The vet said) we could carry her around and do bilateral hip replacements, (but) he didn’t recommend this. The prognosis was poor."

According PetEducation.com, hip dysplasia is associated with abnormal joint structure. "In severe cases, puppies as young as 5 months will begin to show pain and discomfort during and after exercise. The condition will worsen until even normal daily activities are painful,” the Web site says. 

Tess, her husband, Tim, and their four kids were devastated. 

"At that time we didn’t know what to do," she said.

According to the pet store’s policy, any dog under a year old with congenital hip dysplasia could be returned, and they would would then send the animal back to the breeder for euthanizing, if necessary.

The decision to return Addie was difficult.

“We were devastated,” Tess recalled, with lingering sorrow. “I had a sick feeling in my gut. But the x-rays showed proof.  So we returned the dog to the pet store.”

Miracle Dog

Fast forward eight years; veterinarian Lisa Deppe, who runs a dog shelter in Iowa, comes across a beautiful yellow lab with seemingly no one to love her. Not only had she not been euthanized, she was healthy and ready to be reunited with her original owner—if they wanted her back.

“I had just gotten back from a nursing conference in Seattle and was listening to my messages,” said Tess, an Elmhurst nurse. One of the calls was from Deppe.

“They found Addie roaming around Jewell, Iowa, and checked her microchip, which still had our information on it. They said she was responding to the name Addie!” 

Deppe runs the nonprofit side of the South Hamilton Animal Alliance, which provides rescue and rehabilitation for Jewell and neighboring towns.  She found Addie roaming the streets and took her in.  

“Rather than euthanize the dogs, we try to rehabilitate them and find them a new home,” Deppe explained in a phone interview.

“We always scan for a microchip. The original information for the Tess family was still on the chip," Deppe said. "We called them and told them our policy. We always hold the animal for seven days in case the animal belongs to someone else."

Tess was concerned Addie might have trouble with her stairs at home because of the hip dysplasia. But Deppe said her hips seemed fine.

“We sent a video of Addie to Caroline so she could see for herself before coming to collect the dog,” Deppe said. "We just trotted that dog up and down the stairs, and she had absolutely no problem.”

The decision to go get Addie was not difficult.

“We knew pretty much right away," Tess said. "When we saw her in that video, we really knew that it was our dog. We were really happy we were going to have her.”

They were concerned that she might have an owner.

"We wanted them to have her if that was the case. But after that week was up,” Tess paused, “and on Ash Wednesday no less, the vet said she was ours.”

The Trip to Iowa

Deppe agreed to meet the Tesses halfway, in Iowa City, on a cold, wet day in April. 

Deppe relies on private donations for all of her rescue missions, but she was prepared to make the 2 1/2-hour drive.

“You hear this story, and how can you now want to be involved in it?” Deppe said.

The Tess family had gotten another dog, Cody, a golden retriever, in the years since giving up Addie. Cody made the trip with the family to collect her new sister. 

So how is Cody responding to the new addition?

“Addie is just a happy-go-lucky dog. She just wants to be friends," Tess said. "Cody has been a little pouty, which (Deppe) said would happen. We didn’t know how we were going to have two big dogs, but we do!

"Who would have thought that you could get your dog back after all these years?”

Addie's Journey Still a Mystery

Tess does not have all the answers to the history of her newly reunited family member. 

"I think they probably did return her to the breeder but she never got put down. Who knows?” she said. 

Former Pete’s Petland owner Fred Martin, who is now a semi-retired employee, was very interested in the story when contacted for comment.

“It’s heartbreaking when they come down with hip dysplasia, because it’s a congenital defect," he said. "We have to send it back to the breeder, who has it checked out at its own vet.  There is a state law that says we can’t give away or sell a sick animal; 99.9 percent of the time the breeder puts the dog down.”

Martin, who is genuinely interested in getting to the bottom of the story, said he didn't have a guess as to why the dog was not put down.

“There could be a lot of reasons, but I have no idea," he said. "I have breeders in Iowa; my breeders would not have re-sold the dog. They probably kept it.

"If the original owner has the paperwork, I might be able to figure out who the breeder was. But generally the paperwork would be returned with the dog.”

When veterinarian John DeVries was contacted, he pulled his records on the Tess family dog from 2003.  

“We did see Addie, but I can’t share her records publicly," he said. "I can tell you that the dog was not microchipped in our practice. I would be happy for the owner to contact me to discuss her records.”

Though Addie's whereabouts have been a mystery for eight years, the ending was a happy one for the Tess family.

“The whole story seems so far-fetched. It is surreal!” Tess said.

“It’s a little more awkward trying to walk two big dogs,” she said. “But it’s cool; it's fun! I just sit there and hug both my girls.”