German Couple on World Tour Lost Their Dog on Marina Beach. Chennaiites Help Them Get a Happy Ending

Chennai: In an emotional reunion, German globetrotting couple Janin Scharrenberg and Steffen Kagerah were reunited with their pet dog Luke, a black Labrador-mix which went missing in July at the Marina beach.

A nearly three-minute video on the reunion posted on Facebook by animal welfare activist, Shravan Krishnan shows the deep bond and love between the couple and their pet dog.

"After three months, they are finally reunited.

Unbelievable. Found it hard to control my tears. Luke is finally home. Vijaya Narayanan aunty you're an angel !!!! Janin Scharrenberg," Shravan said in his Facebook post.

The efforts of Vijaya Narayanan, an animal lover and entrepreneur, culminated in finding the missing dog.

The video shows Janin Scharrenberg entering Vijaya Narayanan's house last night, calling out 'Luke'. The 20-month old dog, which went missing on July 8, comes running from another room, quickly recognises her and Steffen.

The dog walks around the couple repeatedly, wagging its tail and makes noise apparently expressing joy.

Relieved at finding their pet, the couple are seen patting, gently stroking and hugging the dog.

Shravan said the German couple will leave the city shortly.

In a video shared with PTI by Shravan, Janin and Steffen thanked everyone.

"I just want to say thank you to everyone," Janin said in the video in which she was seen alongwith her husband and their pet dog adding "we are so happy."

Recalling how they found Luke as a puppy, their journey to India and how they lost their pet, Janin thanked animal lovers and the public for aiding their efforts to trace the dog.

Vijaya Narayanan said she got in touch with the couple when she came to know that their dog went missing.

"I offered to help them and began advertising in newspapers, distributed flyers, pasted posters visited veterenarians, and pet shops," she said.

She and her team "got lucky," after three months of concentrated efforts.

On October 21, Vijaya received a call from a person who said the dog was seen with some boys at the Marina Beach.

She said the informer acceeding to her request brought the dog. "We checked his micro chip number and it matched (with the number given by Janin), we felt jubilant," she said.

Janin and Steffen have been travelling across the world since April 2016.

They found Luke in Greece and adopted it.

On July eight, when Steffen had gone somewhere in the city, Janin was waiting in a vehicle on the Marina. An autorickshaw driver reportedly removed Luke's leash and took it away.

The couple later filed a police complaint, and after frantic searches stretching for several days, they left for Sri Lanka and from there to Nepal and stayed there to be able to return to Chennai in case the dog was found.

Animal lovers, the couple and police circulated posts on social media, distributed notices, and pasted posters seeking information on the lost dog.