Max
The Long Road Home
This week’s Happy Tail comes from Alexandra Pintea, a veterinary assistant at the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center in Urbana, Illinois. Alexandra tells us how she couldn’t give up on reuniting a stray Australian Shepherd with his grateful family.
A friend of mine found an Australian Shepherd over the Fourth of July weekend and called me to help. We scanned the dog for a microchip, and though he had one, it wasn’t registered, so there was no way to find who his family was.
My friend had to leave the next morning on vacation, so I told him I would keep Max until we found his family. Max stayed at my house overnight. On Sunday I drove around the neighborhood where he was found, but nobody knew him, so I went to the Humane Society. They had no record of him and told me to take him to Animal Control.
Well, Animal Control was closed on Sunday, so I said I’d keep Max since the Humane Society does not take in stray dogs. But I also called the sheriff and left my cell phone number in case Max’s family called looking for him.
Around 2:00 P.M., a very distressed man called me! He seemed exhausted because he had driven all night and morning around Urbana looking for Max, whom he was dog-sitting for the weekend. He was so happy and wanted to pay me, but of course I refused the money—so he said that he would make a donation to the ASPCA! He promised to make sure Max's microchip was registered as soon as possible.
Max is very lucky to have found Alexandra. Remember, up-to-date microchips, when combined with collar ID tags, are proven to be the most reliable tool for recovering lost pets.