Utah Jazz Player Kelly Olynyk and His Wife Track Down Owner of Dog Missing for 4 Years

•Utah Jazz player Kelly Olynyk and his wife Jackie found a lost dog in a Texas parking lot in December •After discovering the dog had a microchip, the couple called, emailed and even traveled to the address, but the dog’s owner was no longer lived there•When they finally heard from the owner, it turned out the dog, named Harley, had been missing for four years, Utah Jazz forward Kelly Olynyk and his wife, Jackie, embarked on a rescue adventure last Christmas.

A couple discovered a lost dog wandering in a parking lot in San Antonio. When they took him into care, they searched all over the city for the dog’s owner, who had been separated from the missing dog for four years.

Ahead of the Jazz vs. Spurs game on Dec. 26, the couple traveled to Texas to spend the holidays together. While looking for a bite to eat in downtown San Antonio, they spotted a stray dog ​​and Jackie was soon ready to take him in.

“My wife is a big, big dog,” Kelly said Salt Lake Tribune. “She loves all dogs — whenever she has a dog, she has to pet it. She is one of those people. So when she saw [this dog]she was all in.”

“She said: ‘We’re going to find a place for this dog, and if we can’t find a place for this dog, we’re going to keep this dog,'” said the basketball player.

Kelly and Jackie Olynyk

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After taking him in, they drove to several different animal shelters in search of shelter, but – due to the holiday – every one was closed. The couple then went to an emergency clinic where veterinary staff discovered that the dog had a microchip.

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After getting the owner’s phone number and e-mail, they didn’t get any response. So the two of them walked to the owner’s house. However, the owner of the dog no longer lived there, and the new tenants did not know the dog, so the couple stayed with the dog a little longer.

Kelly and Jackie Olynyk

Jackie then reached out to the woman via social media and again got no response, and soon after they were denied boarding the dog. The couple then brought the dog to Christmas dinner and thought about what to do next.

On their way back to their hotel, Jackie received a text from an acquaintance who lived in San Antonio and wanted to take the dog for a sleepover. When they reached the acquaintance’s empty house, they left the dog in the yard and drove away. But then Jackie told Kelly that they “can’t leave” the dog and that they should “take him back to the hotel”.

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The couple quickly welcomed him when they discovered the dog was in the middle of the street. As they started to drive back to the hotel, Jackie received a call from an unknown number.

Kelly and Jackie Olynyk

“She picked it up and the person said, ‘Hey, I got a text that you might have found my dog,'” Kelly said. “She says, ‘This is a crazy situation! The dog’s name is Harley?’”

“We go to the house and she opens the door and the dog jumps into her arms and he’s so happy,” Kelly said.

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Kelly and Jackie Olynyk

During the reunion, the couple learned that Harley had been missing for four years. “‘Yes, I was working downtown, I left her with the dog sitter, I came back after work to pick her up, and she was gone. The dog sitter left, she blocked my number and she just stole my dog,’ Kelly recalled the woman explaining to Salt Lake Tribune.

“We were like, ‘What? So four years ago someone stole your dog?’ She said, ‘Yes, this is literally a Christmas miracle.'”

“We reunited them after four years apart!” the basketball player shared.

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Source: HIS Education