On a dinner run Wednesday evening, firefighters with the Occoquan-Woodbridge-Lorton Volunteer Fire Department spotted a husky wandering around an area parking lot.
“We saw him walking around ... and we just walked up to him and he came right to us. He was very well behaved and friendly, so we knew he had a family,” said firefighter Chris Weber with OWL's Station 14 in Lake Ridge.
The pooch had on a collar and tag, but the veterinarian listed was out of business, OWL spokeswoman Rebecca Barnes said in a news release. Firefighters had him scanned at Old Bridge Animal Hospital but found he didn't have a microchip.
Animal control had been contacted, but Weber put out a post to other department members in the hopes the owner might be found, Barnes said. Another member recognized the dog, whose family had posted his disappearance on Facebook. Within the hour, dog and owners had been reunited.
Kai, who is 4 years old, had run off through an open gate in the backyard and had been gone for about two hours.
“Sometimes your best chance of finding help for a missing pet can be in your pocket on your smartphone,” said Valencia Lee, Kai’s owner, who thanked the fire crews for helping him find his way home.
"I don't know what we would've done if no one had found him," she said.