Livermore police have reunited a French bulldog with its owners after it was likely dognapped more than a year ago.
Police said that on Jan. 4, they found a parked vehicle that was reported as being driven recklessly. The driver of the vehicle "ran off," police said in a Facebook post, but was identified as a parolee with an active no bail parole violation warrant.
Inside the car, police found an abandoned French bulldog they took to the East County Animal Shelter in Dublin. A crew also towed the car.
A technician from the Alameda County Sheriff's Office found a microchip on the dog and discovered the dog belonged to a family in Chula Vista in San Diego County.
The Sheriff's Office contacted the family and learned the dog was named "Muny" and went missing more than a year before.
The family informed the shelter that during Muny's disappearance, they were dogged with messages from an unknown sender asking for money for his return. The alleged culprit never gave any proof they had Muny, so the family felt they were being scammed.
Once the owners found out Muny was safe, they drove up north, reunited with the dog and took him home.
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.