COVINGTON, Ga. — A time span of three years and a distance of 400 miles separated Nikko from his family when a Newton County resident discovered the bullmastiff dog in their yard.

An Animal Control officer brought the dog to the Newton County Animal Shelter (requiring the use of a hill near the Highway 212 residence to lower the truck’s bed so the 168-pound animal could just hop in) and staff immediately checked to see if Nikko had a Microchip ID. Phone numbers for his breeder and owner popped up thanks to the ID chip.

A few phone calls later, the Newton County Animal Control employees found Nikko’s home. However, his home was not in Newton County – or in Georgia.

Nikko’s owner is Tamra Pearce and her family, who lived in Moselle, Mississippi. When Pearce discovered Nikko had been found she was ecstatic. The last time she saw her dog was in July 2016.

Nikko was out in the family’s 40-acre property one day and didn’t come home. Pearce and her family looked and waited for him and a month later their home burnt down causing them to move 30 miles away to Richton, Mississippi. Their hopes of seeing Nikko again faded.

However, thanks to ID microchipping dog and family reunited in Newton County.

Pearce, along with her daughter Hannah and step-father-in-law Larry Homes, made the eight-hour drive (plus time change) to Newton County’s Animal Shelter on Lower River Road on Tuesday, Oct. 29. When Tamra approached Nikko, the large dog recognized his long-lost owner and immediately began to bark and gesture happily.

The joyous reunion was made possible because Nikko had been given a Microchip ID, which enabled him to be identified no matter how far away he managed to get from his family.

Microchip IDs are included in the adoption fee for animals from the Newton County Animal Shelter and are $20 for animals not impounded and are required for reclaim from the shelter.

“Nikko's happy ending is proof that microchips work,” Newton County Animal Control Director Cindy Wiemann said.