Woman Finds Photo of Dog Missing for 3 Years on Beer Can Promoting Adoptable Shelter Dogs
Earlier this year, Motorworks Brewing in Bradenton, Florida, decided on a new marketing campaign that would not only improve their business, but also help out a local animal shelter. They wrapped cans of a new lager in pictures and bios of adoptable dogs, and the internet went wild.
“Heard the buzz??” the brewing company posted on Jan. 28. “Our Adoptable Dog Cruiser 4-packs are taking the media by storm!”
“National and international news teams alike have all picked up our story and we’re stoked by the enormous show of support — features include The Ellen DeGeneres Show, CNN, Good Morning America, USATODAY, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, Newsweek and many more!”
“Swing by the taproom to pick up your 4-Packs & out-of-towners can grab can label stickers off our website.”
Working with Shelter Manatee, Motorworks Brewing featured four adoptable dogs: King, Sandy, Morton and DayDay. By Jan. 24, two of the pups had been adopted, but no one expected what would happen for DayDay.
According to People, DayDay was found in March 2019 and made her way to Shelter Manatee. A stray, she did have both a microchip and a license — but unfortunately, both were outdated and no one came to claim her.
She waited for a new family for 10 months before being featured as one of the adoptable “beer can” dogs, but it eventually became clear that there was a reason for her long wait.
As the Motorworks Brewing campaign made the social media rounds, it caught Monica Mathis’ attention. Mathis lived in Minnesota, but when she lived in Iowa years before, she had a puppy that looked just like DayDay.
In 2017, the pup went missing, and despite scouring the area and local shelters, she was never able to find “Hazel.” The years went by, she moved, her last name changed and she had no idea that Hazel was alive and well somewhere out in the wide world — until she saw her dog’s face staring back at her from a beer can.
“I saw one of the dogs on there and I was like ‘oh my gosh, that looks like my dog,'” Mathis told ABC Action News.
She called the shelter and provided some identifying information, and the puzzle pieces came together. The first name on the dog’s chip had been “Monica,” but the last name had since changed. The dog had been found in Florida, and no one seems to know how the dog made it there, but there she was.
“Once I got the confirmation I just couldn’t believe that this was actually my dog,” Mathis said.
“Hazel” made her way to Minnesota to be reunited with Mathis, and everyone involved is thrilled with the way this has all turned out.
“We are just delighted that a Minnesota owner will be getting their dog back after three years because of what we did,” co-founder and president of Motorworks Brewing, Denise Tschida, said.
“We are thrilled to be reuniting Hazel with Monica and her children,” a Manatee County Animal Services representative said. “An important part of our mission is to get lost pets returned. Every pet deserves to have a loving home and we know that Hazel is returning to exactly that.”
“The chance to be able to have her come home is amazing,” Mathis said. “I’m just so happy that I’m getting her back.”
Video of the family reunited with Hazel shows a very happy pup who seems thrilled to be back where she belongs, even if she took the (very) long way home.
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