Losing a beloved pet can be a traumatic experience, and it can leave you feeling frantic with worry. Some pets go missing for a day or two and crop up later safe and sound. In other cases, sadly, the animal can be lost forever: which causes great distress for everyone involved.

But this week one of those missing pet stories finally had a happy ending: a woman who hails from Florida has been reunited with the pet dog she lost more than 12 years ago, which was discovered more than 1,000 miles away from her home.

Katheryn Strang's fox terrier, Duchess, snuck out of her house in Florida one February afternoon back in 2007 while she was at work. Strang visited a number of local animal shelters, in a desperate attempt to find the lost pooch, but to no avail. Eventually, heartbroken, she gave up her search.

Yet this month, Strang got a call from Humane Animal Rescue in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Duchess, now 14-years-old, had been found at long last hiding under a shed by a concerned local. A scan of Dutchess' microchip traced her back Strang, who drove all the way to Pennsylvania to retrieve her long-lost dog.

Commenting on the incredible reunion in a recent interview with local news reporters, Strang stated: "I'm just so happy to have her back. I cried so many nights not having her ... It's gut-wrenching, but now I'm happy."

Meanwhile, shelter staff member, Torin Fisher, told The Washington Post: "She was in a little bit of a rough shape. Her nails were overgrown, she was dirty, really timid, shaking."

We may never know exactly how little Duchess managed to get all the way to Pittsburgh, or what happened to her along the way, but what matters is that she's back with her family again.

Losing a beloved pet can be a traumatic experience, and it can leave you feeling frantic with worry. Some pets go missing for a day or two and crop up later safe and sound. In other cases, sadly, the animal can be lost forever: which causes great distress for everyone involved.

But this week one of those missing pet stories finally had a happy ending: a woman who hails from Florida has been reunited with the pet dog she lost more than 12 years ago, which was discovered more than 1,000 miles away from her home.

Katheryn Strang's fox terrier, Duchess, snuck out of her house in Florida one February afternoon back in 2007 while she was at work. Strang visited a number of local animal shelters, in a desperate attempt to find the lost pooch, but to no avail. Eventually, heartbroken, she gave up her search.

Yet this month, Strang got a call from Humane Animal Rescue in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Duchess, now 14-years-old, had been found at long last hiding under a shed by a concerned local. A scan of Dutchess' microchip traced her back Strang, who drove all the way to Pennsylvania to retrieve her long-lost dog.

Commenting on the incredible reunion in a recent interview with local news reporters, Strang stated: "I'm just so happy to have her back. I cried so many nights not having her ... It's gut-wrenching, but now I'm happy."

Meanwhile, shelter staff member, Torin Fisher, told The Washington Post: "She was in a little bit of a rough shape. Her nails were overgrown, she was dirty, really timid, shaking."

We may never know exactly how little Duchess managed to get all the way to Pittsburgh, or what happened to her along the way, but what matters is that she's back with her family again.