The reunion was a happy one:
"He looked at me, he knew. He knew my truck and he knew me. I called his name and he knew straight away," Merito says.
It is a happy ending for Digger and his whānau because the dog was microchipped, which made it easy for authorities to locate his rightful owner.
But unless the culprit is caught and confesses, only Digger really knows what happened to him on his year-long adventure.
Was he well-treated? Did he live off a steady diet of meaty bones, head scratches, ear rubs and "good boys"?
Or was he living the life of a vagrant? Surviving on the streets through his wits and cunning, skulking through shadows, living on carrion and the kindness of strangers?
Sadly, stories with a happy end such as Digger's are few and far between.
When a roaming dog is found, it is returned to the owner and depending on the council that picks it up, there are often fees involved to have the dog released back to its family.
If the family don't want to pay the fee, can't be contacted or ignore the council's attempts at contact, the dog's future is grim.
Tauranga City Council website states: "If we haven't heard from the owner within the allotted time or they haven't paid the required fees the Dog Control Act states the dog may be sold, destroyed or otherwise disposed of. Only dogs deemed suitable for home placement can be adopted or rehomed. Dogs classified as dangerous will not be rehomed."
In Rotorua, the outcomes are less clear, but we can read between the lines: "Our Animal Control team work hard to reunite dogs with their owners where possible and appropriate, however many dogs are never claimed. These dogs become the responsibility of our Animal Control team who do their best to find a positive outcome for these dogs. While not all dogs can be re homed due to breed, temperament or health issues, our team tries to find new homes for as many as they can."
Dogs that are deemed suitable for rehoming are often advertised on the councils' websites or social media pages. These are the lucky ones.
While we may never know what happened to Digger, why or if he was stolen, his was a happy ending because he was able to be traced through his microchip.
I believe the best chance to have a dog returned to you after it goes missing is to have it microchipped.
I believe vets, councils and responsible pet owners the country over will agree.
In Digger's case, I'm happy he's back where he belongs and I hope he's had his fill of solo adventures.
