Above: Scruffy is reunited with his happy owners.
A little stray dog was found wandering the streets of Baltimore. He was turned over to Maryland Bichon Frise Rescue (www.bichonbash.com) because he looked like a Bichon Frise mix. He was placed in a foster home and his foster mom, Ginny, brought him to Kingsbrook Animal Hospital to be examined and vaccinated. Since the dog was a stray, Ranee scanned him to see if he was microchipped. He was. Ranee copied down the microchip number and called the microchip hotline to locate the owner's information.
Unfortunately, the owner had never registered the microchip number. Ranee had to shift into Sherlock Holmes mode. She contacted the distributor that sold the chip to see who had purchased it. She then called the pet store that purchased the chip to see if they had kept records on who purchased the dog. Unfortunately, the pet store's computer had crashed and had not been updated. Luckily, the pet store kept hard copies of the microchip information. Ginny's sister, Pam, visited the pet store with a picture of the dog. With a little prodding, they were able to locate the owner's information. Ginny contacted the owner and found out that the little dog, named Scruffy, had slipped out of the gate two weeks before and was picked up five miles away from his home. Scruffy was reunited with his appreciative owners.
This story had a happy ending. Other dogs have not been as lucky. Sometimes a beloved pet is lost forever. Microchipping works. Luckily, the pet store kept records and the owner was located. It is VERY important to register the microchip as soon as it is implanted and to make address and phone number changes as they become necessary. If Scruffy's microchip had been registered, we would have been able to contact the owner and return him to his family immediately.
Thank you to everyone who helped Scruffy find his way home!
