There's no doubt that losing a pet is traumatic. When a beloved furry friend runs off, the owner is almost always left frantic with worry while the animal is gone. Sadly, some of these pets are never seen again, even after weeks or months of frantic searching.
But this week, an adorable video has gone viral on social media, which shows a little dog crying after being reunited with his owner after months apart.
Take a look at the heartwarming footage in the video below:
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According to a recent report by The Dodo, the dog in question had gone missing from its home in the Phillippines, leaving his owner, Rustico Samson Jr, distraught.
Every day for the next three months, Rustico and his friends would go out search the streets for Coco, with Rustico often in tears sometimes crying as he looked.
After several weeks without any trace of the dog, things looked grim. But luckily Rustico’s determination to find this missing pooch eventually led to a happy reunion, when a stray dog matching his description was spotted at a parking garage near Rustico's home.
Speaking to The Dodo, Rustico said:
"I cried. There was so much sorrow, so much pain. Coco is more than a pet. He’s family."
It turned out that Coco had been living on the streets for the past 12 weeks, surviving on scraps and food that had been thrown away.
Rustico went to the garage and recorded the moment Coco saw him, recognized him, and bounded happily towards him, obviously ecstatic to see him again.
Related - If you thought that was emotional, this is the moment a man is reunited with his dog after three years:
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Suffice to say, when Rustico uploaded the video to YouTube, a number of viewers were touched by the heartwarming footage.
For instance, one person commented: "I'm so happy Coco is back home to his loving and caring family."
The weeks that Coco has spent roaming the streets as a stray had taken their toll, leaving him very skinny and dirty. But once he was back home and able to receive some much-needed loving care, he soon returned to something like his old self again.
So if you've lost a pet and have almost given up hope of ever finding them again, please don't. You never know; they could be just around the corner...