Micro chipping your dog or cat is a good way to insure that if it accidentally gets out and is picked up by a good Samaritan and turned into either a vet’s office or the SPCA/ Animal Shelter it will find it’s way back yo you.  Most vet offices now a days have scanners, they can call the company you are registered to and get in touch with you so your and your pet can be reunited.

There was a story in our local paper today about a dog that was let out into the owner’s yard, the owners went inside and upon coming back outside they discovered the dog disappeared.  The dog was elderly, sick and being treated by a vet.  Unfortunately the dog had no collar, ID or micro chip. 

The owners put up fliers, scoured the neighborhood, talked to people looking for their pet.  What they discovered is someone found the dog and thought it was a stray and took it to the SPCA that same day.  The owners headed right over to the SPCA to get their pet.  Upon arriving there they were told the dog was not there.  They decided to check with the other local shelter, the dog was not there.

They decided to try the SPCA on Sunday, they were told the dog was not there. Monday the SPCA was closed, on Tuesday they went backa  4th time looking for their dog. They again were told the dog was not there.  Later on Tuesday they received a call from the director of the SPCA, their dog was there but  it was turned into them without identification and was presumed a stray.  Due to the serious nature if the illness of the dog the SPCA (normally a no kill shelter) put the dog down the first day it was turned in, within hours of it arriving at the shelter.  This was heartbreaking for the owners.

Please micro chip your pet, if you let it out put a collar and identification on it.  Never leave your pet unattended in the yard unless he is secure, with plenty of water and shade.  Check on it often. Personally, I never let my dogs out without me present, there are to many things they can get into plus I would not risk their safety… someone could take them or what if they got out of the yard and were hit by a car or attacked by another dog. It is my job to keep them safe.

If their dog was chipped the dog would have been returned to the owners, continued it’s medical care and been able to live out it’s remaining time with it’s owners.

Follow up:

There was an editorial story in the paper about this unfortunate incident.  The owners went to the local SPCA shelter as advised on the SPCA shelters website at 5:50 pm and were told by the front desk that their dog was not there and denied the couple access to view the dogs in the back to make sure theirs was not amongst them.  The front desk person also said that she was not authorized to either.

At sometime around 6:30 pm the dog was euthanized (May 22nd after their first intitial visit to the shelter).  This is so sad since this could have been avoided if the front desk person was educated enough and followed what the website says to do if an owner looses their dog.  Quote “it is always best to come view the animals in person.” 

My advise don’t take “no” for an answer, if the front desk person will not let you look then ask for her/his superior or someone that handles the kennels.  Bring a picture of your dog, if it is groomed bring a picture of what it looks like groomed. 

Very sad and very avoidable.