‘Impossible to survive.’ Dog lost for 7 years is returned to South Florida home
When a woman brought Sissi, a Maltese, into a Mississippi veterinary hospital, her paws were matted with dirt, her skin flaky and her fur knotted. Waiting room guests gasped and gawked at the malnourished canine, which would turn out to have been missing from her South Florida home since 2014.
Brigitte Bourgoignie, a 65-year-old artist and author, said she was overcome with emotions when her long-lost pooch was returned to her Thursday afternoon.
“It’s a miracle, I just cannot describe more than that,” she said.
Through the use of the 14-year-old dog’s microchip, Bourgoignie was able to contact the woman who found her and locate a shipment company willing to drive about 900 miles to her Coconut Grove home.
Sissi, named after a 19th century Austrian empress, became a close companion to Bourgoignie after her daughter left for boarding school in 2008. Sissi would peak her head out of Bourgoignie’s handbag as she ran errands or traveled internationally to Canada and Paris.
Bourgoignie did not lose her in a foreign destination but at her own home.
As Bourgoignie returned from a grocery store run in 2014, she said she couldn’t find her. Her Maltese was not prone to escape, like her Fox Terrier Lea. She searched every crevice of the house and placed signs in the neighborhood with a listed reward for several months.
“My first thought is that she was dead, because she’s so little,” she said. “It’s impossible to survive.”
But some seven years later, a woman in Mississippi spotted the emaciated Maltese on a Rankin County street, east of Jackson, Mississippi. She posted photos on a Facebook lost and found group and later took Sissi to Hometown Veterinary Hospital.
Allana Brunson, a 24-year-old receptionist at Hometown Veterinary Hospital, said the dog was infested with fleas and immediately bathed her when she arrived. After performing health checks and blood work, the veterinarian determined the dog had cataracts but was healthy for her size and age, Brunson said. Next, the veterinarian scanned Sissi’s microchip, implanted under the skin between her shoulder blades. Every microchip contains a registration number and the chip brand’s phone number.
“We have seen instances similar to this happen with the microchip, but as far as with 7 years, that’s the first time we’ve seen this particular type of incident,” Brunson said.
Brunson said that the animal clinic has received lost pets from surrounding states and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 experienced an influx of pets who escaped.
“As far as ending up so many miles away without anybody evacuating it, that is just unreal,” she said.
After Bourgoignie received a call from the microchip company, she reached out to Word of Life transport, an animal and furniture shipment service, to bring her back home.
Brandon Tyler, the co-founder of the shipping service, has five pets of his own, and began the business in May. He said uniting Bourgoignie with her pet restored hope in locating his cat Thomas he lost in 2016.
Along the 16-hour car ride, Tyler shared photos and videos of Sissi cuddled in a Scooby-Doo blanket, accompanied by a pink sloth plush toy. He recounted the moment he pulled into her driveway.
“As I was rolling up, I could tell that she was emotional and she was just so overcome and so happy and so relieved to finally be getting her baby back,” he said. “By the time it was all said and done, I was crying too.”
Bourgoignie said she does not know how Sissi ended up 900 miles away but plans to document her travels in a children’s book.
“I have this idea of doing a book to try to explain to kids when you lose someone you love, there’s always hope and a positive aspect of it,” she said.
Bourgoignie, who speaks French, said the dog does not yet remember her name and is unsure if she’ll respond to her French phrases, but is looking forward to squeezing Sissi into her bag and returning to their old adventures.
This story was originally published October 1, 2021 at 3:58 PM.