A video of a Yorkshire terrier called Louie reuniting with his owner after two years has gone viral, gaining almost one million views.

Louie, from Oakdale, New York, escaped from the backyard of a friend of owner Tiana Vignola, who was dogsitting at the time. For two years, Vignola has been searching for her dog, regularly posting on a "Help Find Louie" Facebook page and posting petitions to get their story on local news.

Sal Ciaravino became the hero of the story when he and his friend Matt found Louie in the streets in the rain. Although Louie had a collar on, no name was present. "I noticed a dog on the side of the road so we stopped and checked the collar and it had no name," explained Ciaravino in a comment.

"He was so friendly, he let us pick him up then we got some help," he added.

"With some help from my mom and local neighbors, they brought him to Save a Pet and found out that he was chipped and reunited with his family," he added.

It's believed that another family found Louie when he first went missing, and instead of looking for an owner, decided to keep him instead. "That's why two years have passed. I'm glad it's with its original owner," wrote Ciaravino.

Ciaravino shared footage of Louie reuniting with Vignola to TikTok, where it has gained over 900,000 views in just two days.

In the clip, Louie was handed back to Vignola for the first time, and immediately began wagging his tail and licking her face. Vignola, who was fittingly in a Dorothy-style dress for the reunion with her very own Toto, couldn't hold back the tears and began to cry.

"You're home Louie," said an off-camera voice to the pooch.

Vignola also shared the video to the "Find Louie" page, which has over 1,700 members, writing: "Today around 5pm....I got a text that an amazing person found my Louie! They found him today in the rain. He must have escaped wherever he had been staying. Thankfully he is chipped! In exactly three weeks it would have been two years since he went missing. Thank you everyone so very much for helping me look for him."

In May, the reunion between a North Carolina dog owner and his stolen dog went viral too, as the video captured dog Jolene literally jumping into his arms.

Aaron Morris' car was stolen days prior with Jolene in the back. A Tennessee dog shelter posted images of Jolene to Facebook after she was brought in by locals.

Thanks to the power of social media, Morris, who had been regularly posting about his dog on Facebook, was swiftly connected with the shelter.

Newsweek has contacted Ciaravino and Vignola for comment.

Source: Kate Fowler/Newsweek.com

Date Posted: Saturday, August 14th, 2021 , Total Page Views: 933