Well-TRAINed: Patch the Dog is Reunited With his Owner

We love a happy ending, don’t you? And in terms of happy endings, this one is pretty awesome. We are pleased to report that the little dog we told you about earlier has been reunited with his owner.

Patch the dog accidentally boarded the 6.49am train at Kilcock this morning and he ended up in Dublin – pretty far away from where his owner Deirdre Anglin lives.

A kind-hearted passenger took Patch off the train and put him in the care of the staff at Dublin’s Pearse Street station. Concerned staff took a picture of a very upset looking Patch and posted it on Twitter in an attempt to return the dog to his rightful owner.

It took a grand total of 32 minutes for Deirdre to track him down. Apparently Patch had been missing since yesterday and Deirdre was just about to post his picture on Twitter when she came across the tweet from Irish Rail.

“I was waiting for the picture to open going ‘please let that be him, please let that be him!’ although I thought ‘he hardly would’ve got on the train’ – but he did,” says Deirdre.

And does Patch make a habit of hopping on trains by himself?

“No, I think this was his first ride. This is actually his second time on a train, because we’re on the way home now, but this morning was his first time,” she said, speaking to us earlier.

Deirdre has had Patch ever since he was a tiny pup and she admitted that a fair few tears would have been shed if Patch wasn’t returned.

“Thank you to everybody and to Irish Rail for tweeting [the picture] initially. Thank you to everybody who retweeted it. Everyone has put such an effort into retweeting it, so just thanks to everybody,” said Deirdre.

Call us crazy, but we don't think Patch will consider getting the train by himself again in the future...