'I started crying': Vancouver man reunited with stolen dog

A Vancouver man has been reunited with his dog whichhe describes as "family" one weekafter the Jack Russell-Chihuahua cross was allegedly stolen.

Michael Lorimer, who often sits outside a neighbourhood restaurant in his wheelchair,saidhis dog Mishah went missing late last month.

The dog was spotted by a good Samaritan on Thursday evening.

"I started crying and was happy," said Lorimerafter he reunited with Mishah. "The dog was peeing and jumping around and screaming at the top of her lungs like a seagull.

Last week, Lorimer stepped iinto a Church's Chicken at East Hastings and Nanaimo and left the tinybrown-and-white dog outside. When he came back, Mishah was gone.

Lorimer's luck turned around on Thursday.

Police say two people spotted Mishahon Water Street, near Abbott Street, around 6:30 p.m. PT and phoned 911.

Garrett Ruesenwas one of them. He was walking his two dogs through the Gastown area and took a shortcut through an alley on his way back home.

He said he noticed a man with a baby stroller and didn't think too much of it at first until he realized it was actually a dog in the stroller.

"The situation seemed really weird," he said Friday.

Ruesenquickly recognized Mishah from missing dog posters around the city and phoned a number from the poster. He followed the owner at a distance for a while, then decided to alert policewhen he believed he saw the man hitting the dog.

"It was intense," said Ruesen.

A statement from police said they found Mishah with a33-year-old Vancouver man. The dog was taken back to Lorimer and the other man, police said, was arrested on an unrelated warrant.

Police said the dog didn't show anysigns of physical trauma.

Ruesensaid he hasn't metLorimeryet, because he wanted to give him space after he reunited withMishah butRuesensaid the dog owner seemed "overwhelmed."

Michael Lorimer describes what Mishah means to him:

East Vancouver's Michael Lorimer describes what his dog Mishah means to him

6 years ago

Duration 0:17

Lorimer is looking for his pet, which went missing in East Vancouver.

Lorimer, who said he was devastated to find Mishah missing, is partially paralyzed and haspanhandled in the neighbourhood for several years.

"She was with me 24-7. She's just a great little dog, a good little companion," he said on Dec. 2.

Vancouver police Const. Jason Doucette said the people that spotted Mishah in Gastown recognized the dog from media coverage.

"This is a great example of how the public, mediaand the VPD can work together and make good things happen," the officer said.

With files from Jon Hernandez