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this deal occured a few years ago:  so, i'm responding to a complaint of 3 dogs always at large.  i arrive at the suspect dog owner's house and make contact with the home owner.  i inform her of the complaint and ask her if she owns any dogs.  she tells me her father (who lives near me in the farm land) believes dogs should roam for excersize and it is  he who has been allowing the dogs to run free when he visits her.  i ask her the dogs on the property.  she tells me her father owns a dog (forget the breed), she owns one dog (chow mix thing) and she has another dog.  a stray she found. she made it out as if she had JUST found the little dog.  it was a silky terrier.  i explane to her when finding a stray dog she is required to notify the local animal control shelter where she found the dog and by 24hrs turn the dog to that shelter.  she THEN tells me "i posted fliers in Murray where i found the dog" (murray city is 30mins from where she lives).  it later comes out SHEFOUNDTHEDOGAYEARAGO!!!!!!!!  i couldn't believe it.  i told her she could be cited for harboring a stray and failing to notify the local shelter.  i scanned the dog - DINGDING!!  it had a chip.  i had dispatch trace the chip.  we had an owner in our system!! (it's a pain the the butt to call the chip company, they tell us who administered the chip, then call that place.  many times it's a dead end.  some vet clinics/rescues/petstores don't keep good records or records at all!!  petstores are the worst -they sell the dog informing the owner to register but the owner doesn't thinking the dog has a chip so EVERYONE knows this - duh)  ANYWAY!!!  i call the number we  had on file (that's the other petpeve is owners not keeping their information current for the chip or license for notifications) and it was a good number!!  i told the owner what had just happened.  they were bawling and extatic!!  they still lived in murray, the cithy where the finder had found the dog!!  the owner told me they had given up after a year.  they had just bought a Poodle, a different breed because they didn't want to be reminded of "SnickerBear" the Silky they had lost.  man, they weren't lying about meeting me at the shelter to get their dog back - they beat me there!!!  it was such a touching reunion!!  even the dog was happy .. he piddled he was so excited!!  i love those chips, but remember they CAN be missed especiallhy if the chip has moved!!  my dachshund females chip is on her ribcage under her armpit.  have your vet or  local shelter scan your dog at least once if not more times a year to make sure the chip is on the back near the shoulder blades.  an excellent officer scans all over, a good one just scans they typical administered area, a lazy one doesn't do a thing.  always keep your information current with the chip company and/or the place where you got the chip done.  of course, always find out how long the facility keeps their records.  now, if we could just get those chips to have GPS we'd be stylin' ... lol

A job well done, Slaco. When I was younger I had a beautiful St. Bernard about 7 mo old and he was stolen out of the yard. About 5 mo later I was visiting my aunt and uncle about an hour away and the people that moved 3 blks from where I was living moved 4 houses down from them and guess what, they had a St Bernard about a year old. My aunt called the police and the dog answered to Sebastian and came running up to me. You could tell he was my dog but the police wouldn't let me take and they got to keep him. They had a receipt that said they bought him before mine was stolen. It was a paper one that you buy in booklets. And they didn't have one when they moved.

I have always wanted another and have been looking to rescue/adopt one under 2 yrs old. He/she will be trained in search and rescue. I did find one a few mo's ago but was already adopted. When I do find one you bet he/she will be chipped. It's to bad we didn't have them in the 70's.

just make sure at least once or twice a year (such as taking fido to his annual check up) you have the vet scan your dog.  chips can move around in those furry bods!!