For Michael Herrick, surrendering Reece was not a decision made because he no longer wanted his dog.
He had lost his job.
Then he lost his home.
Without a stable place to live or enough money to properly care for Reece, Michael eventually made the decision he had been trying to avoid. He brought his dog to Great Plains SPCA in Independence, Missouri.
Reece, a Boxer-Greyhound mix, stayed behind.
Michael walked away without knowing whether he would ever see his best friend again.
He thought Reece would find another family
Nearly a year passed.
During that time, Michael began rebuilding his life. He found work again and secured a place to live.
He still thought about Reece, but assumed the dog had probably been adopted.
That would have been painful, but it was also what Michael had hoped for when he surrendered him: a safe home with people capable of caring for him.
Then Michael checked the shelter’s website.
Among the dogs looking for homes was a face he knew immediately.
Reece was still there.
Almost a year later, his dog was still at the shelter
Reece’s journey during their separation had not been simple.
Contemporary reports said the dog had been placed with other families, but those adoptions had not worked out. He eventually returned to the shelter.
By an extraordinary coincidence, Reece was available when Michael finally had the stability to care for him again.
Michael contacted Great Plains SPCA.
The shelter knew Reece’s history and understood why he had originally been surrendered.
This time Michael had a home and a job.
He was ready to take his dog back.
Reece only needed a moment to recognize him
Shelter employees decided to film their reunion.
Michael waited inside as Reece was brought toward him.
There was no long period of uncertainty.
As soon as the dog realized who was standing there, his entire body changed.
Reece rushed toward Michael, jumping against him and covering him with affection as Michael dropped down to embrace him.
Almost a year had passed.
Reece remembered.
The shelter shared the video on Facebook on July 27, 2015. ABC reported that within days it had already attracted thousands of reactions and hundreds of shares, while other outlets described the clip as rapidly spreading online.
He had not abandoned Reece because he stopped loving him
The detail that makes Reece’s story different from many shelter stories is why the separation happened.
Michael did not surrender his dog because Reece became inconvenient.
He had reached a point where he could no longer provide him with a stable home.
Giving the dog to a shelter was painful, but it also meant Reece would have food, protection and the possibility of another family while Michael tried to recover financially.
The Great Plains SPCA summed up the reunion with a simple message about keeping families together.
Reece finally went home with the person he remembered
The shelter could have found another adopter for Reece.
Instead, the person who had loved him before everything went wrong had returned.
Michael had a home again.
He had work again.
And Reece was still there.
The dog walked out of the shelter with the same person who had once been forced to leave him behind.
Their reunion happened in 2015, but the video continues to resurface because the story is about something much larger than a dog recognizing an old owner.
It is about losing almost everything, rebuilding a life and discovering that one part of that old life was still waiting for you.
