This story has a happy ending. Two months ago, my son-in-law found a dog wandering a major road near their home, near a park that is known for dog-dumping. The dog had a collar, so he assumed the owner would be easy to find. The dog was indeed chipped, but the chip company got no response when they reached out to the listed owner. My daughter and SIL were not willing to permanently rescue the dog as they already have three rescued dogs who are seniors with their own set of medical needs. When the owners did not respond after a week, they began to look for someone they knew to adopt him. He was incredibly well-trained (which sort of suggested he'd been well cared for) - had several commands he could follow, was completely house-broken, walked well on a leash, etc. But he was high energy (not sure if he was a full pittie, or had some mix in him) and intact.
The first person they knew who showed some interest though, wasn't quite sure she could handle him as she is in her mid 60s. He did a few overnights with her, and she just wouldn't commit. Days turned into weeks, and the lost dog's high energy did not mesh well with our daughter's larger dog, which is also a pittie mix. When I heard the woman was tentative due to his energy level, I told them I'd pay for them to get him fixed, which they did about four weeks ago. There had been a few skirmishes. But they just couldn't take him to a shelter because they knew there'd be a high risk of him being e-listed. They even hung onto him when they had to go out of town and had a dog sitter stay at the house, which wasn't ideal if the two big dogs had gotten into another skirmish.
They started working on other people they knew to adopt him, and it looked like a neighbor was showing some serious interest, which would have been ideal because they'd started to get attached to him at almost two months with them. Then yesterday, they were out walking in their neighborhood when they saw a flyer on a utility pole with the dog's name, a picture of him, and a description of his personality. They knew right away it was the dog they'd found - they knew his given name via the chip company and that's the name that was on the flyer. Our SIL called the number on the flyer immediately, and they arranged to meet up yesterday afternoon. Evidently the man on the phone was crying with relief that he'd found his dog after two months. Our daughter video'd the reunion, and when the dog saw his owner from across the parking lot, he started pulling with all his might to get to him, and the next scene was like it played out of a clip of a deployed person returning home to his dog after being gone for months/years. The dog jumped all over him, kissing him, climbing up on him, tail wagging non-stop. It was obvious that this dog missed this human terribly (although he didn't lead too bad of a life at our daughter's house!).
As far as the communication breakdown, the owner had forgotten to update some contact information, so the chip company couldn't reach him. Had our son-in-law and daughter taken this dog to a shelter, he might likely have been killed. The dog was 4.5 years old, and the owner didn't flinch when he found out they'd had him neutered, saying it's something he probably should have done earlier. They were a bit worried that he'd be pissed about that. Our son-in-law told us they he'd been hearing stories about how common it is for people who get their pets chipped, to not update contact information as it changes. I know it's something we've done the several times we've moved in the last nine years, but it's easy to overlook when you're overwhelmed with the stress of moving.
So.... PLEASE, update your contact information on your pets. It could save a pet's life!
