A MUM has described the moment she learned she would be reunited with her beloved Jack Russell – nine years after he was stolen.

Foster went missing from his home in Vicarage Avenue, White Notley, in May 2007.

Out of the blue on Friday evening Kelly Twin, 40, got a phone call from the RSPCA in Harlow, 34 miles away, to say they had him.

Foster, now 13, had somehow found a home with an elderly lady who had died. With nowhere to go Foster went into the care of the RSPCA who found his microchip and contacted the family.

Mrs Twin, a nail technician, said: “When we first got the call I was wondering what they were talking about, it couldn’t be our dog.

“In 2007 Foster was in my mum’s barn near where we live where we keep the horses, I had a phone call and had to pop out. It was then we had some motorbikes stolen as well as Foster.

“At the time there had been a lot of robberies and dog thefts, the police said they didn’t know anything and nothing was ever recovered.

“On Friday I had a call from the RSPCA in Harlow and they had Foster come in after the elderly lady who had him died and he had no one to live with.

“We went and picked him up on Sunday and it was very emotional.

“When we walked in I knelt down on the floor and he started licking me all over.”

Foster is now enjoying spending time with the family’s second dog Marmite, an eight-year-old Jack Russell cross, husband Neil, 42, and daughter Daisy, 10.

The family had Foster microchipped as a puppy – microchipping has since been made compulsory.

Mrs Twin added: “He has a few war wounds now and he has a scar near his mouth so he looks like he’s smiling. He looks like a little old man.

“It’s one of those stories you never expect to hear. It’s a bit surreal, as far as we were concerned we thought he was dead.

“When we got back home he went running up the path to the house, we took him out for a walk and he went cantering up to the door as well.

“He recognises my daughter, Daisy, she was one and-a-half when he went but he knows her smell. He always used to sprawl out on the sofa and he does the exact same thing now.”