A family in Concord has come forward saying they’re the owners of “Shorty”, the Hurricane Katrina dog who was found wandering alongside a road in Cabarrus County.

Ta’layza Miller and her Grandmother, Oclisha Miller, tell NewsChannel 36 Shorty has been missing since September 10 when they allowed him outside and he wandered off.

The family says they adopted him from a Concord Kennel six years ago.

“I was going out of my mind, and my neighbor tried to calm me down. I just didn’t want anyone to put him down thinking he was that sick,” said Oclisha.

The family says for two weeks they’d been searching for their adopted friend, but it wasn’t until the story aired on NewsChannel 36 and News 14 that they were alerted to his whereabouts.

“My neighbor came over Saturday and told my granddaughter that she’d seen Shorty on television and I was like ‘what?’” explained Oclisha.

After walking along side a road, Shorty was taken to the Cabarrus Animal Hospital where Dr. Blake Peurifoy scanned his microchip linking him back to Louisiana. The Louisiana family told Dr. Peurifoy after Hurricane Katrina, they gave Shorty up for adoption but would love to have him back home.

The family in Concord didn’t realize Shorty had a microchip, and can understand why the family in Louisiana wants him home.

“I do want him back, but since they lost everything in Hurricane Katrina and they lost him… I wouldn’t mind them keeping him or anything because it was their dog first,” said 15-year-old Ta’layza.

“I want him to be taken care of. If they do keep him take care of him. Let him…let them know he’s just like a child. He’s been very well taken care of,” said Oclisha.

According to Dr. Peurifoy, it'll be a couple of weeks before Shorty can travel to Louisiana. He has a serious heart murmur and an oral disease the vet would like to treat.

“If he goes back to Louisiana, I would like to see him just one last time,” said Ta’layza.