I posted this on my Facebook page years ago, and it's well worth the read. PLEASE get your pet microchipped.
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My public service announcement for the day -- get your pet microchipped!! And now the story behind this message.....
Our neighbor Bill has a beautiful, large Akita. She's quite friendly and fairly well trained. Back in December, he took her for a walk in a nearby field. A fox ran out of the woods and caught the dog's attention; she bolted after it, yanking the leash out of Bill's hands, and ran off into the woods.
Bill looked for her for a while and finally went home, assuming she'd come back by herself. She never did. He let the neighbors know the dog was missing, and we kept an eye out for her for weeks. Some of us even checked local creek beds in case she'd fallen and gotten hurt, but there was no trace of her. Our poor neighbor was heartbroken; that was his baby. We all assumed she'd gotten tangled up on her leash and died somewhere.
Fast forward to late February. Bill got a call from his veterinarian, saying he'd been contacted by another vet in Hyattsville, inquiring about the owner of a dog in his office. He had scanned the dog, found the microchip, and realized the name of the owner didn't match the person who brought the dog in for an appointment. The story gets a bit complicated here, because for some reason, the other vet wouldn't give any info on the dog or where it was. Bill called the police, who contacted the Hyattsville vet and forced them to release the address of the person who came in with the dog. When they got to the house, the police knocked on the front door. Bill could hear the dog barking and called her name. The dog recognized his voice, jumped through the screen door on the back of the house, and ran to the yard's gate. It was quite apparent to the police that this WAS Bill's dog!!
The owner of the house came out, furious that the dog damaged the house and that they were taking "his" dog. Turns out somebody in apartments near us had found the dog and sold it on Craigslist for $175. The only concern of the new "owner" was who was going to give him back his $175 -- what a jerk.
The poor dog came home flea-infested and 35 pounds lighter, but ecstatic to be back with Bill.
The moral of the story (again!) -- get your pets microchipped!! You never know what might happen to your pet, but this gives you a chance of being reunited again.
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