Rescued dog goes on to stardom

I’ve been trying to catch up on my pet-related Google alerts today, hoping to find some gems to share since I don’t have any fantastic stories from the office this week. Mission accomplished!

The Selangor SPCA (Malaysia) has recently produced a commercial starring two rescued dogs. Both dogs were found as strays, taken in, and trained by the new owners who gave them a second chance at a happy life. Duke, the star of the commercial is actually the highest-ranked, non-breed specific obedience champion — not bad for a dog that was thought to be near-death when he was first found! The goal of the commercial is to promote spaying and neutering pets and really clever; it definitely had me laughing.

Veterinarians more likely to scan microchips

We are frequently asked by owners who are enrolling their pets or reporting them lost if a veterinarian will definitely scan their pet if it is brought in by someone who has found it. Of course there is no way that we can guarantee this, especially in an incident involving theft. Fortunately, because we do send out a lost pet alert with the pet’s photo, I can happily say that ideally the veterinarians in the area where the pet went missing will have seen that lost pet alert and be on the look out for any similar pets that may come in. Probably much because of this, I was extremely pleased to read this coverage of an AVMA policy update.

“…now states such animals should be scanned “whenever possible” when presented to a veterinarian rather than “when deemed necessary.”

My interpretation of this would be that veterinarians are being urged to scan all pets for electronic identification each time they are brought in, not only because they are told that the pet was found roaming free and they suspect it may belong to someone. I am hoping that if this recommendation is followed there will be an increase in the number of pets that are found and reunited with their families due to a microchip.

Catching up

It may seem like I’ve been neglecting the blog, but we’ve had company staying with us since late last week so I wasn’t able to find the time to make the posts I would have liked. I’m going to try to catch up by briefly mentioning some of the interesting stories that I know I missed in the past several days.

There is a story about a California animal shelter that has practitioners volunteering their time to provide the animals with alternative therapies on the Times-Herald website.

A cat was discovered to have made her way 200 miles from home when a veterinarian scanned her microchip, details available at the WalesOnline website.

Both News Channel 11 and the Contra Costa Times have posted articles involving caring for your pets during a recession. The former includes some tips for maintaining a level of quality care for your pet while cutting costs (I especially like that they emphasized preventative health measures) and the latter discusses an organization attempting to help pet owners through temporary set-back as well as providing some more cost-cutting tips.

The Seattle Times has a veterinarian-authored guide to hazards that pet owners should be conscious of as they are returning to their warm weather lawn care routines.

The Telegraph has an article about a competition to determine Britain’s Most Talented Pet with a video of some of the canine competitors included. The first pair, Sarah Brady and her dog, Samson, were entertaining and inspiring — reminding me that I definitely need to spend more time working with my own dog!

And last, but not least, Monday also kicked off Be Kind to Animals Week; more on that shortly.

More unusual pets found

After reading about the tortoise that was found in the Bronx yesterday, it seems that today has brought a slew of reports of unusual creatures being found.

The first report is a very cute story of a truly odd couple: a dog and goat were found together by a woman in front of her city home. The pair, now being called Thelma (goat) and Louise (Labrador Retriever) are apparently very attached and become visibly upset when they are separated from one another. Although animal control in that area does not typically work with goats, both animals are being held together and ideally will be adopted to a new home together if the owner is not found. Read the whole story on the TriCities.com news website.

The next is a tale of a Prairie Dog, native to North America, who was found helping himself to a meal on a farm in the UK. RSPCA officers are speculating that the out-of-place rodent was kept as a pet and either got loose or was abandoned. They are currently trying to locate the owner. Read the whole story on the Grantham Journal website.

Also, in the UK another tortoise has been found; this one, named Edna, was 300 miles from her home! While canvassing the neighborhood in search of Edna, her owner discovered that someone had found the tortoise while visiting and taken her home. Further details are available on Googlenews, via The Press Association.

“Microchip validation day”

From a good article by Veterinarian Dr. Chris Duke:

So what happened last Wednesday? A golden retriever wearing a chip we had installed was immediately claimed by its owner and sent home. A few hours later, a stray cat was brought in and the cat was scanned. The owner was tracked down, and that pet was sent home. Later in the afternoon, a Schnauzer was brought in by a Good Samaritan after being hit by a car.

The shelter that had installed the chip was closed, but the patient was stabilized, and the owner was linked up with us the next morning.

You can read the full article, Microchips work, but only if your pet has one, here.

What to do if your pet has gone missing and hasn’t been microchipped? A dual registration with helpmefindMYPET and the AKC’s Companion Animal Recovery still allows you to register your pet with a national database, no microchip required.

Has anyone ever lost a pet and then decided to have her microchipped after being reunited? Why or why not?