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Update: Petey Reunited With Owner Who's 'Tickled To Death'

By Christy Strawser
CBS Detroit Managing Editor
Petey the Jack Russell terrier who pulled heartstrings across the country got a hero's welcome when he bounded up to his home Thursday in Erin, Tenn. 

"My dad was so pitiful when they pulled up with the dog, he just cried," said Tyanne Morrison, daughter of Petey's owner Jim Arrighi.

Petey was greeted with a rib-eye steak from a friend who works at a nearby restaurant. The little guy wanted to finish off the 1-pound slab, but cooler heads prevailed.

"You wouldn't believe the size of it. He just dug into it. He wanted to eat the whole thing, but we didn't let him," Arrighi said, laughing. After all the attention, Petey settled into a living room chair that was once the favorite seat for Arrighi's late wife Juanita, and got a little shut eye.

What will his life be like from here on out?

"He'll be with me all the time, he's such good company, he'll sleep in my bed every night," Arrighi said. "I'm just tickled to death to have him back. I believe my wife had a whole to do with him getting back."

Arrighi had just about given up hope he would ever see Petey again when he got the call that the little guy was found in a Rochester Hills backyard. A microchip scan at the Michigan Humane Society quickly revealed who Petey was, but no one knows how he disappeared from Tennessee in July and ended up in suburban Detroit in October.

Morrison added that small town Erin's 7,000 residents know one another, and many of them would recognize Petey, so many suspect he was nabbed by an out-of-towner and somehow transported to metro Detroit.

"We searched. We knew someone had gotten him," she told The Associated Press by phone . "We got on 4-wheelers and went all over the area. There had been some more dogs over the last few months that were missing."

Oh, the stories he could tell about all the places he's been: the plucky Jack Russell terrier traveled 600 miles before he was discovered last week. Petey was healthy, so obviously someone had fed him.

Arrighi is scheduled to have a heartfelt reunion Thursday morning with Petey, after local MHS volunteer Nancy Greiser offered to drive the pooch back home.

It should be an especially moving moment for Arrighi -- whose wife died while Petey was missing.

After four-year-old Petey disappeared in July, Arrighi and his family cast a wide search for the missing dog, posting fliers, getting the word out on Facebook and even having Petey's story featured on the local news.

"But as the months passed, a reunion seemed less and less likely," the Humane Society said in a press release. "Sadly, in addition to the heartbreak of having lost his pet, Mr. Arrighi's wife, Juanita, recently passed away at the age of 77."

- View more photos of Petey -

"This story put a smile on the faces of our entire adoption center team," said Marcelena Mace, shelter manager at the MHS Rochester Hills Center for Animal Care. "It's wonderful when we see microchip reunions, including those that seem like miracles. It really proves that no matter how far your pet may travel, a microchip can help him find his way home!"

Petey Playing by Michigan Humane on YouTube
Petey: The long-distance travelling dog by WWJNewsradio950 on YouTube

The Humane Society wants this to serve as a lesson for pet owners: "MHS strongly recommends that all dogs and cats be implanted with a microchip – a permanent and unalterable form of identification – in addition to ensuring they wear a collar and I.D. tags."

MHS includes microchipping with all cat and kitten adoptions, and offers the service at a discount at the time of canine adoptions. In addition, MHS' three veterinary centers offer microchipping by appointment. For more information, please visit www.michiganhumane.org or call 1-866-MHUMANE.

(TM and © Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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