By Kim Hughes
December 22, 2010
FORT PIERCE — An unexpected phone call from the Humane Society of St. Lucie County made Ricky Allen's holidays a whole lot merrier.
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| Ricky Allen, of Kissimmee, is reunited with his 3-year-old Boston Terrier, Rocky, Tuesday at the Humane Society of St. Lucie County. Rocky had been stolen while still a puppy in 2008. On Monday, he was picked up by St. Lucie County Animal Control, and a microchip implant led the Humane Society to his owner. |
Allen, who lives in Kissimmee, received the call Monday and was surprised to learn the shelter had his dog, Rocky. Allen had not seen the Boston terrier since February 2008, when the dog, then a puppy, mysteriously disappeared and was suspected to have been stolen in Kissimmee.
The ability to reconnect Rocky with his owner was made possible thanks to a microchip implanted under the dog's skin that included information about its owner.
When Rocky was brought in to the Humane Society by St Lucie County Animal Control, he was automatically scanned for a microchip.
Shawn Hart, outreach coordinator for the Humane Society, said scanning each animal that comes to the shelter is standard procedure.
After getting the owner information from the microchip, a staff member called Allen to notify him of his pet's whereabouts. When she heard Allen's story and recounted it to the rest of the Humane Society staff, "the whole place had tears in their eyes," Hart said.
Allen never really thought he'd see the dog, a birthday gift from his wife, again.
Although Allen knew Rocky had a microchip when he disappeared, he was under the impression that the implant acted like a GPS device and could pinpoint the dog's location. Unfortunately, after reporting the dog stolen, he learned that identifying the owner was possible only if the animal was scanned for a microchip.
On Monday, when he received the phone call from Humane Society, Allen was ready to jump in the car and head south to reunite with Rocky. But he was told he'd have to wait until Tuesday morning because the shelter was closing for the day.
The next day, he left at 4 am and was at the Humane Society by 7 am.
Unsure what to expect, Allen said the dog seemed to remember him.
"As I petted him, he smelled me and he knew," he said.
On the trip home, Rocky sat on the armrest beside Allen, occasionally licking his neck.
"It's just like he never left," he said.
After returning to Kissimmee, Allen took Rocky to work with him and said they plan to spend a lot of time hanging out together.
"It made my holiday," he said.
Source: http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2010/dec/22/no-headline---sl_reunited/
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