Community helps reunite family with lost dog after 9 days on the run

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Northwest side family is rejoicing after their dog, who was rescued from Egypt, is back home safe after nine days on the run.

She might be a dog, but this pup named Kitty is living up to her name.

"They say it is a good thing her name is Kitty because she has nine lives now I guess," said Brenna Campbell.

Kitty escaped when her owner slipped on ice and lost control of her leash.

"[It's] her first Chicago winter and we were definitely worried she hadn't survived that first night," said Brenna's father Kevin.

Larry Hammond, with the Barrington Area Animal Rescue, brought Kitty and her sister to Chicago from Egypt. The pair was being abused. Kitty suffered a broken jaw, along with other injuries.

After she ran away, Hammond organized search efforts to find her.

He said volunteers soon found evidence that she was still alive after discovering tracks in the snow that appeared to have a line alongside, which they said was from the leash that was still attached.

"It was a massive effort. There were clients who dropped their dogs off for daycare and [went] out looking," Hammond said.

They plastered posters everywhere and posted pictures on social media.

Chicago Police Lieutenant John Garrido, who runs an animal rescue, said he decided to join the search after seeing a picture of Kitty in Lincolnwood.

Garrido organized volunteers in a perimeter around the area while he closed in, just as he would closing in on a suspect.

"One more jump and I was able to grab onto the leash and we had her," Garrido said. "Talk about exhilarating, it was incredible."

No one knows exactly how Kitty spent her time while she was on the run, but at one point she was spotted two miles away. They think she might have been trying to find her way home, because when she was finally found, she was just four blocks away.