{"id":474842,"date":"2025-12-27T11:10:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T11:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/474842\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T11:10:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T11:10:30","slug":"hobart-family-reunited-with-dog-nearly-four-years-after-it-disappeared-from-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/474842\/","title":{"rendered":"Hobart family reunited with dog nearly four years after it disappeared from home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Depha Miedecke was spending her Christmas Eve wrapping presents and listening to carols when she stumbled across a photo which transformed her holiday season.<\/p>\n

The image was a blurry shot of a black and brown dog, which had apparently been living rough for months near the small town of Murdunna in Tasmania’s south-east.<\/p>\n

Ms Miedecke instantly thought it looked like a skinnier version of her own dog Lucy, which had vanished from the garden of her West Hobart home in March 2022.<\/p>\n

She messaged Lisa Green, the independent pet catcher who had posted the image of the dog after being hired to try and catch it by Murdunna residents.<\/p>\n

\"Dog<\/p>\n

Depha Miedecke says her family “burst into tears” when the microchip scan revealed the dog was Lucy. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Just two days later, the dog had been caught and Ms Miedecke and her family were present as a microchip scan confirmed that it was, in fact, Lucy.<\/p>\n

“It was just amazing \u2014 we all burst into tears,” Ms Miedecke said.<\/p>\n

“I’m not religious but it feels like a Christmas miracle.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Owner ‘always had the hope’ dog would be found<\/p>\n

Lucy is a kelpie crossed with a blue heeler, who became part of Ms Miedecke’s family as a puppy in 2018.<\/p>\n

When she disappeared, the family suspected she had been stolen as there was no way to escape the yard, and an unknown man had been loitering in the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

“We put posters all up around Hobart, put her on the lost pet register, called all the councils, the RSPCA, did all the normal things that you do,” Ms Miedecke said.<\/p>\n

“I would have been far happier if they’d stolen all the contents of our house or our cars rather than taking our dog.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Ms Miedecke (far left) says it feels “like a Christmas miracle” to be reunited with the dog. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Ms Miedecke said it felt “terrible” and she often stayed up late wondering what had happened to their dog, but no information ever came forward.<\/p>\n

“I always had the hope and always had a feeling we might find her one day, but to actually have that happen has been pretty incredible,” she said.<\/p>\n

Residents near Murdunna, a small town about 60 kilometres east of Hobart, started noticing what seemed to be a wild dog wandering the bush around April 2025.<\/p>\n

Lucy appeared to be sleeping near the Arthur Highway and was spotted in various locations between Murdunna and Dunalley, another small town.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Lisa Green, who runs a business where she searches for missing pets, was hired by Murdunna locals to catch the dog. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Some locals occasionally let the dog sleep in their shed or left her food, but they said she ran away as soon as they approached.<\/p>\n

Ms Green was hired by locals to catch the dog in late December due to concerns for the dog’s welfare and fears it could cause an accident if it wandered onto the road.<\/p>\n

On Christmas Eve, Ms Green set up a humane trap \u2014 which included roast chicken, stuffing, fresh water and a bed \u2014 near the highway.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

This was the blurry image which Ms Miedecke thought could potentially be her missing dog Lucy. (Facebook: The Pet Searcher)<\/p>\n

The dog was eventually caught overnight on Christmas Day and was collected by Ms Miedecke and her daughter Freya Hansen on Boxing Day.<\/p>\n

“When we got there she was just trembling \u2014 like absolutely terrified,” Ms Hansen said.<\/p>\n

Dog begins ‘long road to recovery’<\/p>\n

After checking the microchip and confirming the dog’s identity, the family took her to the vet to be checked up.<\/p>\n

Ms Miedecke said Lucy had lost about 13 to 14 kilograms since she went missing in 2022 and that she looked “quite different”.<\/p>\n

“She’s covered in ticks and has fleas, but physically fine and she had all her bloods done last night,” Ms Miedecke said.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Freya says it was heartbreaking when Lucy vanished back in 2022. (Supplied: Depha Miedecke)<\/p>\n

The dog then spent its first night back home in more than 1,300 days, and it is now adjusting back to life with the family.<\/p>\n

Freya said the family was prepared for it to be a “long journey to recovery” for Lucy.<\/p>\n

“She’s definitely very shaken as she’s obviously been alone in the bush for a long time now,” Freya said.<\/p>\n

“But we definitely think she remembers us and she knows she’s home and safe now.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Ms Hansen says it will be a “long journey to recovery” for Lucy. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

The family said they were grateful to the Murdunna community for contacting Ms Green and their efforts assisting Lucy over the past few months.<\/p>\n

“We’re just so thankful to the community for \u2026 feeding her and just doing their best to make sure she stayed safe as she was roaming around,” Freya said.<\/p>\n

“We’re just so happy to have her home.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Dog<\/p>\n

Lucy is adjusting to life back at home in West Hobart. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Depha Miedecke was spending her Christmas Eve wrapping presents and listening to carols when she stumbled across a…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":474843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[215176,215183,4740,215174,215172,215182,215181,215173,215178,215171,215177,50,215180,215175,215179],"class_list":["post-474842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-animal-catcher","tag-animal-theft","tag-australia","tag-blue-heeler","tag-dog-found","tag-hobart-crime","tag-hobart-theft","tag-kelpie","tag-lost-animal","tag-missing-dog","tag-murdunna","tag-news","tag-pet-stolen","tag-stolen-dog","tag-wild-dog"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115791230489143729","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}