By Danielle Grobmeier, The Arizona Republic
A dog that went missing during a monsoon storm in May 2011 was reunited with his family in Glendale on Monday after Phoenix police rescued the animal.
On Friday, "Buddy," a brown and white Pekingese, ran out of an apartment complex on the 4800 block of North 15th Avenue and struck the side of a Phoenix police patrol car traveling north on 15th Avenue, according to the Phoenix Police Department.
The officer driving the patrol car immediately went back to check on the dog, which was bleeding from its mouth and could not stand up. Police officers wrapped Buddy in a blanket and took him to the Alta Vista Veterinary Hospital.
The dog ran away from a man who told officers he is an animal lover and took the dog into his home a week ago to take care of him. Officers traced Buddy's identification chip to a Glendale home, and Glendale officers left a card with a phone number to the animal hospital at the residence.
When Buddy's owner, Jessica Rowe, called the hospital, she was ecstatic.
She said Buddy had disappeared when she and her family lived in Mesa two years ago, and she had given up hope of ever finding him again.
She and her daughter had gone to great lengths to locate their beloved pet, posting fliers around the neighborhood, going door-to-door and posting on the Internet.
Rowe didn't want to get a new dog because of the devastation Buddy's loss had caused her daughter.
The Arizona Republic