The moment finally arrived Thursday for Sam Hanson-Fleming of Portland: He was reunited with his lost dog, Chase -- the subject of a custody battle with a woman who found the husky mix but wouldn't give him up.

In front of a crowd of reporters, Hanson-Fleming retrieved the dog from the Oregon Humane Society, where the dog has lived for the last 2 1/2 months while the battle raged on.

Chase wagged his tail, jumped and yelped as he greeted Hanson-Fleming.

Before giving the dog to Hanson-Fleming, Humane Society workers implanted a chip identifying the Portland man as owner.

The reunion followed a ruling earlier in the day by Benton County Circuit Judge Locke Williams, who ordered the dog released to Hanson-Fleming.

The judge heard testimony from an investigator with the Benton County prosecutor's office who had watched as Hanson-Fleming visited the dog on Aug. 3 at the Humane Society's Northeast Portland shelter.

Hanson-Fleming called out "Chase, Chase, Chase!" and the dog pulled so hard on his leash that the handler stumbled several times, said investigator John Chilcote.

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"(The dog's) demeanor changed dramatically," Chilcote said. "There was recognition, happiness, excitement, hopping, yipping, yelping maybe."

In turn, Chilcote said, "Mr. Hanson-Fleming appeared to me to be overjoyed to see this dog. He became emotional. He initially sobbed. ... He seemed to have, in my opinion, a very strong bond with this animal."

The August meeting was the first time the dog had seen Hanson-Fleming since May 13, when Hanson-Fleming happened to spot his missing dog sitting in a car idling at a Dutch Bros. Coffee outlet in Southeast Portland.

Hanson-Fleming had lost the dog more than a year earlier. Jordan Biggs, an Oregon State University student who was visiting Portland that day, found the dog and took him home with her to Corvallis.

Although Biggs has said she initially tried to find the dog's owner by posting fliers and calling the Humane Society in spring 2011, she eventually considered the dog hers and refused to give it back. On July 10, the director of Multnomah County Animal Services ruled that Hanson-Fleming was the dog's rightful owner because he couldn't find evidence that Biggs had followed animal code in trying to find the dog's owner and legally acquire ownership.

Biggs still wouldn't return the dog. On July 20, Corvallis police seized the dog and arrested Biggs under a charge of felony first-degree theft. Biggs hired a Tigard attorney, Geordie Duckler, who successfully argued that the dog must be held in protective custody at an animal shelter pending the outcome of Biggs' criminal case because the dog is evidence. Biggs' trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 24 and last two days.

In a separate civil lawsuit, Biggs has asked a Multnomah County Circuit judge to decide who is the rightful owner.

After listening to nearly an hour of testimony and argument Thursday, Judge Williams said he never expected that the dog would be held at the Humane Society for so long.

"Mr. Hanson-Fleming does have a valid claim to the dog," he said.

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