Shami, poodle

Microchip enables dog to be reunited with owner after five years
by Melissa Pinion-Whitt
Mar 30, 2010

FONTANA - The filthy, matted and malnourished poodle that Jamie Simmons picked up from the north end of town on March 19 had no collar or tags. But despite the dog's condition, Simmons did what she always does as an animal control officer.

She scanned the dog for a microchip.

After making a phone call, Simmons was able put a name to a face.

"I put down the phone and called out her name," said Simmons, who works for the Fontana Police Department. "She lifted up her front legs and started doing a high-pitched whine."

It turned out that Shami, a champagne poodle, had either been stolen or ran away from her owner in Glendale five years ago. Emma Sevilla, then 11 years old, had received the dog on her birthday.

Simmons contacted Emma's mother and was able to reunite the dog with her family the day after the girl's 16th birthday.

Simmons said occasionally she runs into microchipped animals who have been away from their original owners for long periods of time. She found a pit bull in a Fontana backyard about six months ago. The dog belonged to someone in Illinois.

"I don't know how she got out here," she said.

But the duration between Shami's disappearance and reunification is the longest she's seen in her career.

"Thankfully with the microchip and the numbers, we were able to reunite the dog with the owners," she said.

It's a simple, and fairly inexpensive step pet owners can take, yet some companies claim that only 3 percent to 4 percent of dogs and less than 1 percent of cats that wind up in shelters are microchipped, she said.

Linda Sevilla, who bought her daughter her dog for $350 from a breeder in Big Bear Lake, said she had the veterinarian implant a microchip when the dog was getting her shots.

She has three adopted daughters, including one with autism. She gave all three of them dogs, because she's a believer in the therapeutic qualities animals have.

But about a day before Emma returned from a camping trip, Shami vanished.

Linda Sevilla put up fliers and visited animal shelters, but there was no sign.

"In the meantime, I've tried to replace this dog for Emma. I've given her two other dogs on her birthday and she really hasn't wanted to bond with them," Sevilla said.

On March 19, a Fontana resident found the dog wandering through a neighborhood and took her home. She was skinny and covered in clumps of matted fur.

Simmons scanned the dog for a chip and six phone numbers popped up, including Sevilla's.

Linda Sevilla came to the animal shelter the next day.

"I've never seen a poodle that bad," she said.

But after a few shampoos and a shave, Shami's back to her tail- wagging self.

And Emma Sevilla finally got to see her dog again.

"Now that Shami's home, she's much happier," she said.

Source: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_8068/is_20100330/ai_n52968712/