Woman finds missing dog on Florida beer cans promoting shelter dogs

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Four Manatee County shelter dogs were picked to have their pictures on Motorworks Brewing beer cans, with the goal to help them get adopted.

"It was pretty much everywhere over the internet," said Monica Mathis.

Mathis, who is from Minnesota, saw the story while scrolling through Facebook. It didn't take her long to notice something that others didn't.

As she scrolled, she saw the familiar face of a terrier mix dog that she's been searching for, for three years

"And I saw one of the dogs on there and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, that looks like my dog,'" she said.

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Mathis said she recognized Day-Day as the dog she helped deliver as a puppy, who she said was a member of her family that went missing from her Iowa home in 2017.

"I searched for her, I called shelter and couldn't find her at all and eventually I moved back to Minnesota," Mathis said.

Day-Day did have a microchip with Mathis' name, but the information on it was outdated.

Luckily she did, however, still had the paperwork to prove to Manatee County Animal Services that Day-Day was actually her dog Hazel.

"It's just such a lucky, amazing story," Mathis said.

It's not clear how hazel got from Iowa to Florida, but Mathis got to see Hazel via FaceTime for the first time in years.

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The nonprofit Friends of Manatee County Animal Services will cover the cost of transporting Hazel to Minnesota.

"Just this chance to be able to have her come home is amazing. I'm just so happy that I'm getting her back," Mathis said.