Knuckles, miniature schnauzer

Couple reunite long-lost dog with owner
By Eddie Jimenez / The Fresno Bee
Posted at 11:06 PM on Tuesday, Apr. 19, 2011

Thanks to a couple's compassion for animals and a microchip, a former Fresno woman will be reunited with her dog, who had been missing for more than a year.

A Fresno couple found Knuckles, a miniature schnauzer, last weekend and took him to an animal clinic to check for an identification microchip.

Knuckles, a miniature schnauzer, got away from his owner almost a year ago in Fresno. He was found and will be reunited with his family this week after a long flight to Florida, where the family has relocated.

Sure enough, employees at the Animal Hospital & Bird Clinic in northwest Fresno discovered the identification device in Knuckles and contacted his owner Monday. She has moved to Florida.

"She was overwhelmed with joy," said Jaclyn Mendoza, a clinic employee. "She had given up hope."

Knuckles became lost about 14 months ago, before his owner moved away, Mendoza said. The owner did not want to be identified. Much to Knuckles' good fortune, he crossed paths Sunday evening with Kristine Perez and Jason Hunt, who rescued him from the streets on Palm Avenue south of Herndon Avenue.

The couple had just left their home in the area about 6 p.m. to run errands when they came to a stop sign at Palo Alto Avenue and Palm.

Knuckles was running around wildly. They feared he might be hit by a car, so they picked him up.

"He was really scared, shaking and nervous," Perez said.

Perez and Hunt contacted neighbors and placed an ad on Craigslist, but could not find the dog's owner.

The couple, who have two cats with identification microchips, took care of the miniature schnauzer overnight Sunday before going to the clinic Monday morning.

A microchip is about the size of a grain of rice and is injected between an animal's shoulder blades, said Daphne Hill, a veterinarian with the Fresno animal hospital.

"A collar and a name tag with telephone number can be removed or lost, but the implanted mircochip remains to identify your pet," she said.

Knuckles is scheduled to fly out of Fresno to Florida today, Hill said. His owner will pay for her pet's medical care and the flight, though the clinic's staff is donating some of its time for costs. Perez and Hunt's reward is knowing they helped reunite a dog and his owner.

Said Perez, "A man who was in the clinic when we took the dog said, 'You really did your good deed for the day.'

Source: http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/04/19/2357270/couple-reunite-long-lost-dog-with.html