by Kim Doner
If you’re an animal lover (and I’m betting you are —after all, just what are you doing now but reading an animal lovers’ magazine?), do you ever wonder just how much your pet needs to be microchipped?
I know — there’s no way your fur baby can escape your fortress, right? But what if the unthinkable happens? What if…?
Hype Disappears
We’ll start in Marietta, Georgia, in June 2024, but it could be Anywhere, USA.
Carla S. adores her Yorkie, Hype. She had rescued him from a neglectful situation; he is the light of her life. He is also a little bitty guy — small enough to slip through a hole at the bottom of her fence. The day comes when he does just that; Carla goes to the back door to let him in, and he has vanished.
Across the street is a parking lot. The rodeo is in town. The lot is full.
Carla is beside herself. She is flooded with that ugly despair we all experience when we realize a loss — the dread, the anxiety. She frantically canvasses the area, calling for Hype. No pup.
She searches for hours and drafts neighbors to help. Everyone knocks on doors, hoping for some luck. But no pup. Carla puts ads in the paper, posts online, staples photos everywhere. No pup.
Then to rub salt in the wound, the response calls start to come in. Predators who want money up-front to return “her” dog do what they can to convince her he’s in their possession. Those who claim to have seen him will tell her where he is, but she needs to contribute bucks for their help. Liars, cheaters, scammers all offer her what she wants — only if she pays. She can trust no one, and they are relentless.
Then the worst — Carla is driving home one day and sees a flattened carcass with the same size and fur pattern as Hype beside the road. She knows it must be Hype. Her heart breaks.
Bedraggled Traveler Appears
Flash-forward to Tulsa, Oklahoma, mid-
August 2024. This too could be any other city in the United States.
The thunderstorm from the night before leaves puddles in the gas station’s parking lot, where Leslie Jackson is filling up her car. She leaves the car door open as she navigates the pump, and a bedraggled, malodorous mass jumps into her front seat to settle in. He’s perfectly friendly and makes himself at home — clearly a seasoned passenger. Clearly someone’s pet.
Jackson, an ardent cat-lover, calls an animal-rescue friend, Holly Sweet, who directs her to take the stray to her vet and check for a microchip.
At Forest Trails Animal Hospital, Misty McNelley takes over and starts the research. Sure enough, the little guy has a home … in Marietta, Georgia. More than two months on the road, perhaps stolen, perhaps being a little too friendly and hopping into a stranger’s car, but nonetheless along for a ride that took him 800 miles away only to wind up lost at a gas station in Oklahoma….
Once armed with address and phone number, McNelley contacted Carla S. and was dismayed at the lack of excitement in her response. It figures, though; Carla had had way too many taunts and teases about getting her pet back and had become numb to hope. After seeing the traffic victim that fit Hype’s description, she had believed he was lost to her. It took the microchip company’s assurance, combined with McNelley’s proof, to convince her that her fur baby was alive and well.
Alive and well, but … 800 miles away. How on earth to get him home? Especially in the heat of an Oklahoma August?
Home Team Completes the Circle
It can be said that it takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a team to return a pet.
Our valorous animal rescuer, Sweet, set up a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for a volunteer to drive to Memphis, Tennessee, to meet Carla halfway. Carla, wise soul that she was, had also purchased insurance with her microchip that provided $500 transport fees if a pet is lost or stolen and recovered 500 or more miles away (another thing to file away for future consideration). Sweet fostered Hype until the money was raised. McNelley volunteered to drive. The date was set. The Tulsa Transport-Hype-Home Team piled into McNelley’s car at the same time Carla’s crew left Marietta
Hype was heading home.
Most of us usually see a Bass Pro Shop as a great place to shop for sporting goods, but it also makes for a perfect rendezvous. There in Memphis, Carla stood in shock but slowly melted into joy when Hype was placed back in her arms.
Hype even got a bonus. Because Carla had given up hope of his return, she had gotten a new puppy. Hype now has plenty of company to keep his interests in his own backyard.
Microchips Matter
A word on microchips:
Veterinarians have microchip scanners, as do animal shelters, police stations, and PetSmart stores. If you find a lump the size of a grain of rice under the animal’s skin, the animal is probably chipped, but the chips can move and shift — so get a scan.
To help streamline the search for chip registries, go to https://www.aaha.org.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, more than half of all lost dogs with microchips are returned home, but only 22 percent of those without chips.
Chips are proof of ownership if a lawsuit occurs. It’s easy to update any moves or ownership changes at the registry. Chips are designed to last 25 years, which is far longer than the average life span of a dog or cat.
It might be easy to shrug and state that this story is one in a million, but just the other week, McNelley reunited a cat that had been missing for a full year with its owner — who had gotten the kitty while she was in India and brought it all the way back to the United States.
So maybe two in a million? Or maybe … your pet is next?
