COLUMBUS, Ohio — Chekia Cermack bounces her 3-month old infant on her lap as she explains how she met her first "baby," a snow-white fleeced husky she named “Snowball,” three years ago.
Cermack said she heard a man talking in a local dollar store about his new puppies, and asked to buy one from him without even seeing them. Little did she know, the green and brown-eyed husky would quickly become her best friend.
“He's been with me, literally, ever since...he would go to work with me," Cermack said. Until one day Snowball went missing while in someone else’s care in Johnstown.
Cermack reported Snowball as being stolen. She said the entire Johnstown community, including the sheriff, searched for the dog, but he was nowhere to be found.
The loss sent Cermack into a deep depression. Cermack explained she already suffers from bipolar depression, but her best friend missing almost pushed her over the edge.
"I honestly remember I was going to drive off of the bridge, because I was just so depressed I didn't want to live anymore,” Cermack said about losing her pet.
Cermack said she never gave up hope and got a call from the Franklin County Dog Shelter on Friday that changed her life.
“I was like, 'oh my god,' they probably found Snowball," Cermack exclaimed.
The duo were reunited thanks to a microchip that was given to the dog by the shelter. The device is a tool used to find missing animals, and something Cermack says every pet owner needs.
“They can scan your dog and then literally call you. He was found at 10 a.m. and they called me 20 minutes later,” Cermack said. “I knew that one day he would come back to me. And honestly, I think everybody should keep hope."
Cermack said she’s now focused on the cost and care of Snowball, an unexpected expense, with his sudden return. She has started a GoFundMe page to try and raise money to go towards her pet's care.