A Wagin family has been reunited with their lost dog Jesse after it turned up at a Busselton vet seven years after it went missing.
Michelle Andrews said in 2013 her stepdaughter was looking after Jesse in Bunbury when the little dog escaped from a gap in the car window.
"She had gone into work to see her boss and popped Jesse in the car to take her for a drive, she loved going for drives," she said.
"Each window was left down a little bit, my step daughter was gone for 15 minutes when she returned to her car Jesse was gone. She was a bit of a Houdini.
"My step daughter and her boss walked around calling her and could not find her anywhere, she put signs up everywhere hoping to find her."
Ms Andrews said at the time her children were devastated and worried Jesse had been run over.
"I told them we would get her back and that someone was bound to give us a call because she was microchipped, but the weeks went on and we did not receive any calls about Jesse."
In 2018, the family received a phone call while they were on a holiday in Exmouth from a vet in Busselton who had scanned Jesse.
The vets told the Andrews' family they would take care of Jesse until they returned home and could pick her up.
Ms Andrews phoned the vets as planned, but was told they had given the dog back to the people who had brought her in because by law they could not keep her.
"We did not know what to do and they would not give us the contact details of the people who had Jesse, there was not much we could really do," she said.
"I told the kids the people have had her for five years then they must love her and that she was happy, but it was really hard because the kids kept saying, she is our dog how can they keep her.
"It was heartbreaking, we were so excited to get that call that we would get her back, it was like a kick in the guts.
"I was annoyed - I thought was is the point of microchipping our pets when they get scanned and don't go back to the rightful owner - why do we pay for this?"
Two weeks ago the family received a phone call from another vet in Busselton who had scanned Jesse, Ms Andrews told the vet that Jesse was their dog.
The vets kept Jesse until Ms Andrews could pick her up.
Ms Andrews said it was so great to be reunited with Jesse after all these years and that her children, who are now teenagers, were so excited they all wanted to make the trip to Busselton.
"When I picked her up she started licking me, it felt like she remembered us and the moment we got home she was really excited, she ran up to the kids wagging her tail," she said.
"Another dog we have that grew up with Jesse was beside himself."
"She is back home now and quite happy."
In WA, it is mandatory to microchip dogs when they are three months old under Section 21 of the Dog Act 1976.
According to the RSPCA, pet owners who have their dogs microchipped are more likely to be reunited with them the animal if it became lost.
A microchip contains the contact details of a pet owner which can be scanned by vets, animal shelters and rangers who can contact the owner.
Pet owners keep their contact details up-to-date by visiting petaddress.com.au.