Owner finds his two missing dogs in France 300km apart, 10 years on

A dog owner in France has found his two missing golden Labrador dogs, 300 km apart, within months of each other, 10 years after they disappeared.

Stéphane Baudrot lost both of his dogs - Sweety, then aged three; and Bip Bip, then aged one - while walking them in Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave (Tarn-et-Garonne, Occitanie) in 2014.

Despite media coverage and far-reaching attempts to find them, he eventually gave them up as lost.

But astonishingly, two months ago, Mr Baudrot received a phone call from the Cordes-Tolosannes mairie (Tarn-et-Garonne) saying that Sweety had been found and traced back to him, after being seen abandoned and swimming in water in the department. 

This was already fantastic news for the owner, who told Le Parisien: “You cannot imagine how happy we were to find her again.”

Refuge tracing campaign

But more was to come. At the end of August. Mr Baudrot received another message, this time about Bip Bip. She had been found roaming free in Tarn-et-Garonne, and sent to the Filémon animal refuge in Haute-Vienne (Nouvelle-Aquitaine), around 300 km away.

“When we entered the Labrador's details in the Identification des carnivores domestiques (I-CAD) database, we were amazed to find that it had been missing since 2014,” said Adeline, who runs the refuge. “The owner no longer lived at the address we had and a registered letter sent to him was returned to us.”

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I-CAD is the biggest database dedicated to carnivorous pets in France and in Europe - mainly comprising dogs, cats and ferrets. It is the only place that stores complete data on these animals’ identification in France, including their microchips and the details of their owners.

Abandonment suspected

Mr Baudrot was finally located via an appeal on Facebook. He had moved to Castel-Sarrazin (Landes).

He now believes that the dogs were stolen at the time of their disappearance, and later abandoned.

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Pet abandonment has become an increasingly serious issue in France, after shock campaigns in 2019 and 2023 highlighted that the country has the highest level of abandonment in Europe. Refuges have also warned that rising inflation and the cost of living has worsened the situation. 

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“In any case, they were in good health,” said Mr Baudrot. He will take care of - the now elderly - dogs at home, and at the time of speaking, was looking forward to introducing the dogs to each other again. “It's going to be a huge moment,” he said.