THEIR eyes locked and in an instant, the pain and uncertainty of the past 16 months disappeared.
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Tamworth woman Amanda Willcox has recounted the emotion-charged moment she was reunited with her beloved dog Bronte, who was stolen from her backyard and found 16 months later – 400km away in suburban Sydney.
On August 21 last year, the purebred American bulldog was taken from the backyard of Ms Willcox’s Denne St home.
Desperate for ans- wers, Ms Willcox plastered messages over the internet, did a letterbox drop in the neighbourhood and offered a $2000 reward for Bronte’s return.
And despite no response, she never gave up hope of finding Bronte.
“I always had the feeling she was still alive, I just knew I would find her,” Ms Willcox said.
Just before 5pm last Friday, she received the call she had dreamed of.
A ranger from Sydney told Ms Willcox Bronte had been found roaming the streets of Mt Druitt and was now in Blacktown Pound.
“I screamed ‘Are you serious?’ I cried, it just felt like I had won the lottery,” Ms Willcox said.
She awoke at 4.30am the next day and drove to Blacktown with fiancé Sean Brown, scouring through the rows of abandoned dogs at the pound to find the face she knew so well.
“She was in the last row I looked at and as soon as I saw her I started crying,” she said.
“She jumped straight over the fence and started scratching and licking me.
“She was so excited she was shaking.
“I had to go and sign some papers and she thought I must have been leaving her, so she started howling.”
She said despite Bronte’s 16 months away, her character or appearance had not changed.
“I took her home and made sure I spoiled her for dinner,” Ms Willcox said.
“I just hope my story gives people hope not to give up, even when all hope seems lost.”