California man heartbroken after cremating his dog gets unexpected text from shelter

A California man was mourning the death of his dog Cognac, but then received an unexpected text from Sacramento’s Front Street Animal Shelter on Jan. 8 saying his dog had been found.

Ralph Johnson of Sacramento thought he found his border collie mix lying dead on the side of the road after he had gotten away and cremated him, according to Fox40.

“At first he thought we were playing a very cruel joke,” Bobby Mann, Front Street Animal Shelter communications manager, told CBS Sacramento.

“What do you mean he’s alive? Was he in a coma or something?” Johnson said, according to CBS.

Johnson found out that the dog he cremated wasn’t Cognac. Someone had turned in a dog to Front Street Animal Shelter and the dog’s microchip identified him as Cognac, the shelter wrote in a post on Facebook.

“Shortly after losing his beloved dog Cognac, Ralph found a dog on the road that had been hit by a car near his home,” the post read. “Someone had covered the dog’s face, but Ralph was sure it was Cognac — the resemblance was unmistakable. Heartbroken, he took the pup to a cremation facility. Imagine his shock when he got a call from our shelter today letting him know we’d taken in a dog with a microchip in his name! Ralph came immediately and was beyond overjoyed to find Cognac (the real one) alive and eager to go home!”

The next morning, Johnson went to claim Cognac. When the dog was brought out, “He jumped in my arms, and I’m hugging him. It was a great feeling,” Johnson said, according to ABC 10.

“I never had something like a dog that relates to me the way he relates to me and it’s a special bond,” Johnson told Fox40. “I’m so happy to see him and he’s just as happy to see me.”

This story was originally published January 10, 2020 at 11:05 AM with the headline "California man heartbroken after cremating his dog gets unexpected text from shelter."