Earlier this week, an adorable 6-month-old Shih-Tzu-Yorkie mix named Meeko was probably feeling very lost and confused after being ripped from his family's home in San Jose. His primary caretaker, 10-year-old Marissa Mabang, was so distraught over the missing Shorkie that she even offered up her piggy bank as a reward. On Wednesday, the pup was found abandoned in the parking lot of a Target nearly 80 miles away.
The puppy's savior, one Blanca Del Real of Los Baños, California, saw employees at the Target store herding the animal in the parking lot, the Chronicle reports. Thinking the pup would make a good pet for her own young son, she offered to take the apparently stray animal home. Later that day, however, Del Real caught the heartstrings-tugging local news coverage of the young girl offering to part with her humble life savings in order to be reunited with her puppy. and realized the stray she picked up might be Meeko.
A few phone calls later, and the Los Baños Animal Control came out to check Meeko's microchip and confirm the missing pup's identity. For her help, Del Real will receive $6,000 in reward money — $5,000 of which came from the San Jose Police Officers Association and the San Jose Firefighters union, and another $1,000 from a member of the San Jose City Council. Del Real says she plans to use the money to buy a puppy for her own kids. Marissa's piggy bank, it turns out, will stay intact for now.
CBS5 has the local news report. Adorably cartoonish piggy bank spotted at the 1:20 mark. Newscaster banter about how adorable Shih-Tzu-Yorkie mixes are at 2:05:
