Animals

Microchips Do It Again!

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Two remarkable cases in the past month once again illustrate the power of the tiny microchip to reunite pets with owners, even when time and distance make it unlikely.

On Tuesday, Jamee Lynn Smith of North Park visited the Department of Animal Services in San Diego to show off Watson, her 2-year-old Maltese who had been missing for 10 months before a microchip helped bring him home last week.

And just a few weeks ago, another dog missing two years and hailing all the way from Baton Rouge headed back home after being found here and identified through a microchip.

“Stories like these prove that a microchip can truly be your pet’s ticket home,” said Dawn Danielson, Director of the Department of Animal Services. 

When Jamee Lynn Smith’s dog went missing 10 months ago, she was distraught. She searched for the dog constantly and filed a police report.

Her San Diego City Council representative, Todd Gloria, publicized Watson’s case on his Twitter account, and the community helped Smith search. Still, no one could find the dog.

But in the early morning hours on Monday Nov. 15, a County animal control officer responded to a request for assistance from San Diego police officers who had taken a man with a dog into custody for psychiatric observation in Linda Vista.

The animal control officer brought the dog to the County’s shelter, where all animals are scanned for a microchip upon arrival.

Staff detected Watson’s microchip, and a check of the database found that the dog had been reported missing. Smith was soon at the shelter, reunited with her missing pet.

“I got the call last Tuesday; it was breathtaking—I didn’t think I’d ever see him again,” Smith said Tuesday while hugging the 5-pound dog. “A microchip is really the best present you could ever get your pet.”

Just weeks earlier, another remarkable reunion had taken place at the San Diego shelter. In October, a pit bull came into the shelter that had vanished from his home in Baton Rouge two years earlier. It’s unclear how the dog got to San Diego, but after the microchip revealed the dog’s identity, the owner, Dawn Dowling, drove all the way from Baton Rouge to pick up her missing family member.

The Department of Animal Services strongly encourages all pet owners to have their animals microchipped. Microchips can be obtained at all three of the County’s animal shelters every Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m.

For more information regarding microchips, visit the Department’s website at www.sddac.com.