Thunderstorm sparks mysterious 2,000-mile journey for spooked California pup later found in Illinois
One theory behind the impressive journey is that Opie, while lost, was mistakenly thought to be dumped and unwanted. They might’ve then scooped him up to save him.
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WHEATON, Ill. – A sweet pup was finally reunited with his owner Wednesday, after a thunderstorm sparked a journey spanning nearly 2,000 miles and three months.
Opie, a 5-year-old corgi-border collie mix named after a beloved television show character, ran away from his home in Beiber, California, in early July when he was spooked by a particularly severe weather event.
"He doesn't love thunderstorms, but he always just hid out under something, under a bed or something like that," Opie's owner Ciara Babcock told FOX Weather. "But this time, he just took off."
Opie. (Ciara Babcock / FOX Weather)
Looking for Opie
During her search for Opie, Babcock learned that the pup had been spotted at the local gas station – and then picked up and taken away. She noted how the same thing had previously happened to other lost dogs in the area.
She spent the next couple of weeks looking for the pup on the ground and posting about him in online groups devoted to spreading the word about lost dogs in California and across state lines.
"(Beiber) is a popular place for travelers to stop when traveling between Oregon and Nevada," Babcock said in a statement on PawBoost, a lost and found pet database. "It’s a long shot, but (I’m) hoping someone picked him up because he looked lost."
She also hoped that whoever picked up Opie would turn him into a shelter or police station where they would scan his microchip and see the information it contained, to help bring him back home.
Weeks turned into months and, for Babcock, the idea of having her pup back home began to fade.
"I knew he was out there somewhere, but my thoughts kind of changed where I was just hoping that he was just being loved and, wherever he was, he was getting all the attention that he deserved and had a good life," she said.
Found, in an unexpected place
Opie and Ciara reunite. (DuPage County Animal Services / FOX Weather)
In early October, more than 90 days after her pup had gone missing, Babcock was notified of an Opie sighting – two time zones away from the West Coast.
Home Again, a pet microchip company that helps reunite lost pets with their owners, notified Babcock that Opie's microchip was scanned at the Itasca Police Department in northern Illinois.
After initially believing there must've been a mix-up, given the distance, Babcock worked with the Itasca Police Department dispatch to find out that they did indeed find her lost pup.
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Officials said he was brought in as a stray pet, after he was found outside and wearing a collar and harness with a tag donning a non-Opie name.
"He was in good shape, too," said Laura Flamion, administrator at DuPage County Animal Services, which worked with the Itasca Police Department to reunite Opie and Babcock. "It’s not like he had been neglected these last couple months – he was plump, and he was clean."
Itasca deputies then brought Opie to DuPage County Animal Services in nearby Wheaton, where he was "very friendly" with the team, Flamion noted.
Back in California, Babcock took the soonest flight to Illinois that she could find to pick up her long-lost Opie.
A happy reunion
Babcock and Opie on their road trip home to California. (Ciara Babcock / FOX Weather)
Their reunion was one filled with joy for both pup and his owner.
"As soon as he saw me, he ran up to me and started jumping all over me, and he started making all these cute little noises," Babcock said. "Then I started crying happy tears."
The two then took a road trip back to California, taking a scenic route that allowed Babcock to show Opie incredible sights, such as the national parks.
"God is so good, and he answered my prayers," Babcock said.
Thinking back to Opie's journey to Illinois over the summer, only the fetch-loving pup knows exactly what happened.
Opie at national parks. (Ciara Babcock / FOX Weather)
Thunderstorm phobia is common in dogs without any differentiation between breeds or sizes, according to Dr. Jessica Vogelsang, a veterinarian and chief medical officer at the Animal Hospital Association of America.
Despite this ubiquity, scientists haven’t yet pinned down what exactly causes dogs to become frightened by storms.