FLINT, MI - Kris Gibson knew Simba the Dog was lost. She had no idea just how far from home he was.

Gibson met Simba on Thursday, March 5 when she let her dog out the back door of her Mount Morris Township home and saw the gentle giant standing at her fence. She lured him into the backyard using a bag of treats, she said.

She took him to Mayfair Animal Hospital, located at 8025 Clio Road in Mt. Morris, to have him scanned for a microchip. She was surprised to find out Simba’s owner lived in Florida.

Kassidy Gruno, a veterinary assistant at Mayfair Animal Hospital, said Simba has apparently been missing for about two and a half months. She was shocked at how far the dog had come, she said.

"Never have I ever seen something like that happen before, I don’t think any of us have here,” Gruno said.

Simba is a Presa Canario, or Canary Mastiff, native to the Spanish Canary Islands. While they don’t know for sure, both Gruno and Gibson speculated Simba’s journey could be explained by someone abducting him with the intent to sell him. The owner told staff Simba was in the yard when he went missing, Gruno said.

“They are thousand-dollar dogs,” Gruno said. “The cheapest one around here was $1,800.”

As of Thursday, March 12, Simba is still staying with Gibson, she said. She’s working with the nonprofit organization Pilots N Paws to find him a flight back to Florida, she said.

Simba’s unlikely reconnection with his family might never have happened without his microchip, Gibson said.

“Usually when I find dogs, they never ever have a chip, I was pretty shocked,” Gibson said. “I always advocate for chipping. I used to volunteer in rescue groups, and I would say 90% of the dogs that come in aren’t micro chipped, or they don’t register them.”

HAPPY TAIL! Simba has been missing from his home in Miami, Florida for two months. He was found in Mt. Morris this week... Posted by Mayfair Animal Hospital on Saturday, March 7, 2020

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