You thought your dog didn’t need a microchip!
After ten years, you thought you’d never seen your dog again. For ten years you’ve known that the microchip was there. Even if Brindle was found deceased somewhere, why didn’t someone scan him for a microchip and let us know he wasn’t coming home?
Alas, this story has a happy ending.
Gary Rowley of Fredericksburg, VA, said that his dog, Brindle, used to open the outside door himself by hooking his toenails into the side. Super Bowl Sunday, 1999, he opened the door, went outside, and never came back.
How he ended up 1300 miles away in Lawton, OK, no one knows. Brindle isn’t telling.
Enter little Tristan Rohde, the eight-year-old heroine who found Brindle under some bushes, nearly starved to death. Tristan’s father, Jon, was so proud that she’d taken an interest in the poor, thin creature that he just couldn’t say no when she wanted to take him to their family veterinarian for care.
That’s when the doctor scanned Brindle for a microchip and found one! The letdown occurred when the phone number on record was no longer active.
The Rohde family didn’t give up. They turned to Facebook, where Rowley had begun posting just two weeks ago.
They successfully made contact, and Brindle will be heading home as soon as he is strong enough to travel, thanks to the willingness of a volunteer to drive to Oklahoma to pick him up.
The takehome lesson here? Even if there is a small fee to update your microchip information, take the time to do so every time your address, phone number or email address changes.
And, ensure that every pet in your household has a microchip.
MMCHIPHOME
