Heartbreaking moment lost dog reunited with owner after six years thanks to microchip

Delighted owner 'wept for hours' after his beloved Shar-pei was found wandering the streets

A dog owner has been reunited with his beloved Shar-pei after six years thanks to the dog's microchip.

Delighted Terry Blackburn wept for hours after his beloved Lexi, a Jack Russell cross, was found wandering in the streets of York.

The pooch had vanished six years ago on a walk in the North Yorkshire countryside when she was just eight months old.

Terry searched everywhere, but he could not find her.

Terry said that Lexi "disappeared in a flash" during their country walk near Malton.

He spent hours searching for her and even returned to the spot every day for two weeks.

Terry was starting to lose hope, but he kept Lexi's microchip details up to date.

Then, one day, last week, he received a call to say Lexi had been picked up by Dog Warden Services.

She had been checked for a microchip, and Terry's details came up.

Terry, 82, said: "I could not believe it."

"I just wept for hours. Lexi is everything to me. She is my baby.

"I cannot understand how she managed to survive for so long. It is a mystery."

Lexi is thought to have been picked up by someone who did not realize she had a microchip.

She was then passed around between a number of people before ending up in York.

Terry said he was "overwhelmed" to have Lexi back and says he will never let her out of his sight again.

"She is now 14 and a bit stiff and arthritic, but she is still my best friend," said Terry.

"I am so grateful to everyone who helped to get her back to me. It is a miracle."

A spokeswoman for Dog Warden Services said: "We are delighted to have been able to reunite Terry with his beloved dog."

"This is a wonderful example of why it is so important to microchip your pet."

"If Lexi had not been microchipped we may never have been able to trace her owner."