PAULDING COUNTY, Geo. (CNN/WXIA) -- A happy reunion between long-lost owners and their two dogs will have tails wagging.
Last Saturday, Brenda Travis and Tom Shields shared an emotional reunion with their two basset hounds, Allie and Bama.
They hadn't seen each other since the dogs were stolen from their Murfreesboro home five-and-a-half years ago. Travis says, "We would look in neighborhoods, and just drive around. We drove around for months, just looking."
That pair of missing basset hounds turned up a couple weeks ago, wandering the parking lot of this business in Paulding County.
Half a decade later, and hundreds of miles from home, the dogs ended up at the Paulding County Animal Shelter.
Thanks to a wand like this one, shelter workers discovered one of the dogs had a microchip that provided three phone numbers. Kennel technician Becky Davis says, "When they have a microchip, we can get them home."
Davis tried the first two numbers with no luck. But hit pay dirt with the third. She broke the news to an astonished Brenda Travis.
They describe the conversation:
Davis: "I asked her, 'Do you happen to have two basset hounds?'"
Travis: "Then I said, 'No, ma'am, ours got stolen five-and-a-half years ago.'"
Davis: "I said 'Well, we have them here at the pound.'"
Travis: "There was a long pause and a lot of tears and ..."
Davis: "Then she said, 'Oh my gosh, you have to be kidding me!' I said 'No ma'm, they're here.'"
Travis: "I asked her how they were and she said they were healthy and fat."
Davis: "I said they are in good condition. She said, 'Oh, my gosh.'"
Thanks to volunteers from Guardian Angel Basset Rescue, Allie and Bama were reunited with their owners, who now live in Wichita, Kansas. Hundreds of miles and many years since they last saw each other.
Back at the Paulding County Animal Shelter, Becky Davis is celebrating too. She says, "Oh yeah, that makes it worth working here. I love it. I love animals."