Published: January 30, 2009
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| Ace, a black Labrador retriever from Georgia, was found in Beauregard Jan. 22. |
When Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine Pharmacist Helen Gill called Randy Dely earlier this week to tell him his dog had been found he was a bit confused.
As he held the phone in his hand, the Webster County, GA, sheriff looked to his left at his dog, Harley, safely by his side. Surely there had been a mistake, he thought.
Then he heard Gill say, “We have Ace.” The telephone fell silent as Dely began to ponder those words.
That’s when it hit him. Ace was his black Labrador retriever that had been missing for almost five years.
“I never thought I would ever see him again,” Dely said Thursday as he stood inside the AU Small Animal Clinic’s lobby, where he was reunited with his rotund, four-legged companion.
Almost five years after Ace disappeared from Dely’s Webster County, Ga., home in March 2004, the dog was found in the yard of AU Large Animal Clinic pharmacy technician Mechelle Golden’s house in Beauregard.
“I could tell he was somebody’s dog, because he was very well taken care of and very well groomed,” said Golden, who found Ace lying next to her dogs’ outside kennel Jan. 22.
Golden immediately began searching for Ace’s owner. After checking with a number of animal clinics in the area, Golden decided to take the dog to work to have him scanned for a microchip that would provide contact information for his owner.
On Tuesday, Gill found a microchip which provided the information that eventually led to her telephone call with Dely. The microchip had been placed between Ace’s shoulders by a veterinarian in Americus, GA, who also implanted microchips in all of Dely’s dogs.
“The best $25 investment,” Dely said, referring to the microchip that helped reunite him with Ace.
Ace was a puppy when he was given to Dely by a close friend, who had given him the dog to take dove hunting. Dely had just began to train Ace in the field when the dog disappeared.
Ace shared the kennel with a yellow Lab, Reefer, a retired Webster County Sheriff’s Office drug dog who had a penchant for escaping by climbing the fence. More than likely, Dely said, Ace had also learned to climb the fence.
Dely seemed just as eager to reunite Ace with the his old friend Reefer, who is now 16 years old.
“We’ve got to get reacquainted,” Dely said, “Once he sees that yellow Lab, I think a lot will come back to him at that point.”
Ace left the AU campus sporting a few going-away presents he received from the staff, including Golden — a collar, bandanna, leash and tag — all bearing the AU logo.
“I hope you’re an Auburn fan,” Golden told Dely, as she handed him Ace’s leash. “I am now,” replied Dely, who gave a check to Golden and to the Auburn University Foundation as a way of saying thanks.
“The whole experience has just been amazing to me,” Dely said. “I had never believed I would ever see this dog again.”
Before helping Ace into the cab of a friend’s pickup truck to make the more than 60-mile trip home to Webster County, GA, Dely said, “We may just lead the life of Riley. But if he wants to hunt, we’ll hunt.”
Source: http://www2.oanow.com/news/2009/jan/30/dog_found_in_beauregard_reunited_with_owner_in_geo-ar-507724/
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