A few weeks ago, I came home from work early. All I wanted to do was go to the grocery store, come home and make dinner and chill in front of the TV. I gathered the spawn and we hopped into the car and went down the street, heading to the nearest store. We were on a two lane road near the 465 overpass when we spotted a dog in the middle of the lane. I slowed down, of course, and the people in the fast lane honked. I noticed that the dog was really two dogs. The dog I thought I saw was a big brown male pitbull standing protectively over a puppy. I pulled to the side and we opened the door, thinking to coax them off the road. Well, they had other ideas and bounded happily into the car. We canvased the neighborhood and no one claimed the dogs. By this time, the spawn had dubbed the puppy "Blueberry" and the other one "Big Boy" and was making all sorts of starry-eyed plans to blend them into our existing pack of four hounds. They were friendly and clean and wearing collars, so I knew they were someone's beloved dogs and there was no way in hell I was going to turn them over to the shelter since it is a kill shelter.
I ended up driving to my vet and having them check the dogs for microchips. Fortunately, the big brown pitty had one and even better, they were able to contact his former owner who contacted his current owner who called me and asked for directions to my house to come pick up the dogs---yes, they were anxious to reclaim their missing dogs. I had to rush home to beat them to the house. Thirty minutes later, Mocha and his puppy pal, Lucky, were happily reunited with their human parents who were grateful that I had gone to the trouble to try and find them.
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| Mocha the "ferocious" pitbull eagerly awaiting a car ride. |
So, after turning the dogs over to their human parents, the spawn and I went to the grocery store and just as we emerged, the snow began to fall. It wasn't any old snow, but blinding white out conditions with bitter wind and heavy wet snow every where. It wasn't difficult to see that I had saved two dogs' lives. I think in dog years, I earned about 14 years of good karma that day.
Moral of the story, microchip your pets. It hurts as much as drawing blood and costs about $50 to ensure their safety. And furthermore, make sure you keep your information updated with the microchip company. If the people the vet called hadn't known who or where the new owners were, Mocha and Lucky might never have found their way back home....if they survived the weather and the horrible drivers.
