12.17.2006

Golden Retriever lost in 2004 is reunited

Click on above link to watch reunion video. Sam I Am got lost in South Florida during the 2004 hurricane season and ended up in Chicago. His owner was found because of his microchip.

If you were reunited with your Katrina pet, most were microchipped. Some were microchipped several times. But if you don't call the company and register the number to you - the owner - and if your pet gets lost again and is scanned, the chip will show ownership being Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife & Fisheries or Best Friends or any number of other post-Katrina shelters or staging areas. Or the chip will be registered to the receiving shelter.

It costs around $17-20 to register your pet's microchip number to your name, but that is a small price to pay for the good it can do.

It's also a good idea when registering a microchip number to include at least one piece of information that is not likely to change, which varies from person to person. One personal email address I've had for at least 8 years is more consistent than any of my cell phone numbers. And as we saw with Katrina, home phone numbers can be completely useless.