Missing dog Watson found after disappearing from Hilton home eight-years-ago

Staff writersThe West Australian
Camera IconWatson the wonder dog was found after eight years away from his family. Credit: 10NEWS

Beloved pet dog Watson has been reunited with his family after going missing nearly a decade ago.

The Maltese Shih Tzu disappeared from his family’s Hilton home in August 2012.

But in an extraordinary stroke of luck, the now 13-year-old dog was found last Friday on the side of Wattleup Road in blistering 41C heat.

He was taken to the Hammond Park Vet in Success where the veterinarian was able to scan his microchip and use the details to return Watson to his family.

“He’s been very good with us at home, having cuddles and being patted by the kids,” owner Sheri Yeoman told 10NEWS.

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“So I think that he knows he is home.”

Camera IconWatson was found last Friday on the side of Wattleup Road in blistering 41C heat. Credit: 10NEWS

When he went missing eight years ago, Ms Yeoman and her partner Lee Turner posted thousands of flyers and made countless phone calls to vets and pounds around Perth hoping, in vain, to track him down.

Mr Turner believes another family had been keeping Watson as their own.

“It was our understanding that he was passed on from that family to other family members,” he said.

“It was impossible for us to investigate or for police to investigate any further.”

During that time, it is believed Watson, who is now blind and deaf, was neglected and mistreated.

He suffers from eye, skin and ear infections.

“He’s also got a heart murmur. With the condition of his heart at the moment, the vet thinks (Watson has) maybe around six months,” Ms Yeoman said.

Mr Turner said the family would now do the best they could to keep him comfortable so he can “enjoy the time he’s got left”.

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