Dog lost after US wildfires back with family... after 101 days

A dog named Kingston who jumped from his family’s truck as they fled wildfires in California has been reunited with his owners 101 days later.

The pet, a 12-year-old Akita, went missing in November as the family left the town of Paradise, where fires killed 85 people and destroyed nearly 15,000 homes.

Gabriel Ballejos, Kingston’s owner, said: “When I was told he had been found, it just about brought me to tears. I can’t believe it. He’s a true survivor.”

Mr Ballejos said the family never lost hope and kept issuing flyers and contacting animal shelters.

His daughter Maleah added: “Every night I would tell my dad that we needed to go look for him.”

Kingston was captured by animal rescue volunteer Ben Lepe, after being spotted on surveillance cameras.

He took him to a local group, Friends of Camp Fire Cats, where volunteers saw a message about Kingston on Facebook and contacted the family.