My Microchip saved me!

It was a dark and stormy night in mid-August……no, wait, that’s another story.

One evening in mid August, not long before closing time, we received a call from a member of the public who had found a stray dog and wanted to bring him down so we could scan him for a microchip and perhaps locate his owner.

When they arrived, the dog (a Shih Tzu cross) was scanned and did have a microchip.  Given the time, we couldn’t contact the council rangers to collect him so our vet looked up his details on the Companion Animal Register.  He was registered but the contact number was one that blocked incoming calls.  I sent a text message in the hope that would get through and also sent an email to the address on the CAR.  No text came back in response by the time we closed and left for the night, so he had to stay in the clinic overnight to be collected by the council rangers the next day.

When our morning receptionist arrived the next day we had received a response to the email.  The lady sounded very excited and surprised.  She then called us to let us know she would be coming to pick him up and said that he had been missing for two years!!!  The dog (whose name is “QQ”) had obviously been looked after by somebody during that time as he was in good condition.  At least he hadn’t been roaming the streets for two years.

Later that day, a lady walked through the door and I didn’t even need to ask why she was there.  She was literally vibrating with excitement.  As I went out the dog room to get him, I wondered how he would respond to his owner, given that so much time had passed since they last saw each other.

When I led him out to the waiting area, the lady had squatted down and he walked up to her.  He didn’t do anything for a few seconds and then he stood up on his back legs and excitedly started licking her face.  He very obviously recognised her.  Such a great moment.  The lady was crying and if a client hadn’t walked in right at that moment, I would have been having a cry with with her.

The lesson to be taken from this story is the importance of microchipping your pet so if they go missing, they can be reunited with you (hopefully it wouldn’t take two years to happen).  It also highlights the importance of making sure any changes to your contact details are updated on the Companion Animal Register.

 

Toni our Receptionist was thrilled to be able to write this good news post