A five-year-old pup has been reunited with his Manchester family after being found lost and wandering in Salford.
It’s now emerged that Tyson, a black Staffie, had been missing from home for a staggering two years.
15-year-old Adam Paul spotted Tyson near Albert Park in Broughton on Thursday 6 August.
The friendly mutt stuck by his side and followed him all the way home.
Back at St Brelades Drive in Higher Broughton, Adam pleaded with his mum, 35-year-old Lorraine Eastwood, to take him in.
“He’s wandering the streets mum,” said Adam. “We can’t let him go back out there on his own.”
Lorraine, who has dogs of her own, relented.
She told SalfordOnline.com: “As soon as he came through the door he was rolling over and letting us rub his tummy. He jumped straight on the sofa like it was his own and fell asleep, snoring.
“He had a couple of scratches on his head, perhaps from scrapping with other dogs, but he didn’t seem in a bad condition.
“He didn’t look like a fighting dog: he wasn’t unhealthy and he didn’t look like he’d been abandoned.
“It’s possible other families had taken him in since he went missing.”
It begs the question – where had Tyson been for all this time? That mystery is still unsolved.
Lorraine Eastwood posted pictures on Facebook before calling up the Salford council dog wardens.
They run a hugely popular Facebook group which now has over 13,000 likes.
Luckily Tyson was microchipped and so there was a chance his real family was still out there.
Dogs in Salford warden Erica Eaton told SalfordOnline.com: “When we picked up Tyson the Staffie he was a bit subdued. He didn’t want treats or to be petted.
“Normally Staffies are really affectionate, they’ll be jumping all over you and kissing you.”
The phone number attached to the chip didn’t exist, but when Erica and her colleague Chris looked up the address it was only five miles away, so they jumped in the car and drove over to Crumpsall to pass on the good news.
“I’ve got goosebumps just thinking about it,” said Lorraine.
“When Erica told us they might have found the family, I just hugged her.
“She told me that never in all her time as a dog warden had anything like this happened.
“The longest time a dog had gone missing before it was returned was at the most two or three months.”
Erica explained: “We found the house and knocked on the door, and we said to the man who came out, ‘Do you own a black Staffie?’
He said, ‘Well, we used to, a long time ago, but he was a bit of an escape artist. He went missing in 2013.’
“When we said we had Tyson in the van, he was stunned.
“And when Tyson saw the family his character completely changed, he went crazy wagging his tail and bounding about. He just ran at the owner and was licking his face all over.
“They were absolutely shocked and delighted to have him home. They obviously thought he was long gone, missing or worse.”
It is testament to Tyson’s intelligence that after so long away he could remember his family, said Erica, who has two Staffies of her own.
“Staffies are highly intelligent dogs, they’re giddy to learn and you can train them all day long.
“We’re still in shock to be honest.
“It’s a lovely ending to what must have been a traumatic time for his family. I’d like to thank Lorraine and her family for doing the right thing and calling us in.”
