Reunited 5/5/11: The little poodle “Blue” was reunited with his family yesterday after he had been lost for over 2 years! We were able to reunite him because of his microchip! Thank you to ACA Pi for beautifying him before his big visit with his family – he was pretty dirty when he first came in!
See video of reunion here. Thank you to Enjel for the video!
Photos of Blue when he came in:
This little old adorable poodle was brought in as a stray today. Thankfully, he had a microchip! Animal Control Officer Strong called the phone number from the microchip company and the woman who answered couldn’t believe that she was calling about her dog. She proceeded to tell Strong that they had lost the dog two years ago from her home in Rio Linda, California! He was 9 years old then and he’s now 11. He’s covered in dirt and terribly matted. Who knows what adventures he’s been through during the last 2 years or how he made it to Oakland. His owners are driving to Oakland tomorrow to see him for the first time in years!
Not only was this poodle found today, but we also impounded this black and white pit bull with a microchip. Her microchip led Animal Control Officer Leo Ayala to contact the dog’s owner in Sacramento. She’s been searching for her dog all over Sacramento since Friday. She has no idea how her dog got to Oakland and she would have never found her if her dog was not microchipped.
We also got in a lost kitty today with a microchip. Her microchip leads back to Hawaii! Sadly, when Animal Control Officer Elena Hocking tried to call the phone number it was out of order. She will send a letter to the address in hopes that the owner still lives there or has had their mail forwarded to their new home. It is always very sad for us when we get an animal with a microchip but the owner hasn’t updated the information in the microchip company’s database. Please make sure to call your animal’s microchip company regularly to make sure the contact information is right!
How to update your pet’s microchip: Every microchip is issued by a specific company – such as Home Again, 24 Hour Pet Watch, Trovan, etc. This company keeps a database of the microchip number which links to the owner’s pet information. The microchip only contains the microchip number – not the pet’s information. So, it is critical to update the microchip company anytime your contact information changes. To find out what company to contact, you can look at the paperwork you received when your pet was microchipped or you can go to any animal shelter or veterinary clinic to have your pet scanned. Each microchip company has unique microchip numbers. You can put the microchip number into this online form which will tell you the name/contact information for the microchip company.
We microchip Oakland animals for $10! Please spay and neuter and microchip your animals!