July 7, 2011
A dog that went missing seven years ago in Arkansas is set to be reunited with her original owner after living under a pseudonym for all that time with another family in the same town.
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| Bud Norman, Rogers Animal Shelter manager, holds Mimi, a Shih Tzu, on Tuesday in Rogers. Mimi has been missing from its owner for the past seven years. The dog was picked up by an animal control officer Saturday and identified by an implanted microchip containing the owner’s address and phone number. |
Andrew Navarette told animal control officers that he let his Shih Tzu, Mimi, out in the backyard of his Rogers home seven years ago but that when he went to retrieve her she had disappeared, the Rogers Morning News reported today (NZ time). Navarette was unable to track Mimi down, even though she had a microchip implanted in her neck containing his contact information.
It is not clear what happened to Mimi that day, but some time later, Kim Rafter of Rogers acquired the animal from someone in good faith, renamed her Gizmo, and has cared for her ever since, KHOG-TV reported.
Meanwhile, Navarette relocated to Woodlake, California.
On Saturday, Mimi showed up at an animal shelter in Rogers where officials found the chip and called Navarette, who had kept the same cell phone number through the years. Rafter did not explain to KHOG how she lost the pooch at the weekend.
"As far as I know, it was just running loose," the shelter's manager, Bud Norman, told The Associated Press. "It was picked up and brought into the shelter."
Assistant shelter manager Matt Colston said Navarette was clearly excited that Mimi had been found and immediately said he would pay for the Shih Tzu to be shipped to his home in California.
Norman said Mimi is in good health and has been well-cared for. He said Rafter called the shelter after losing the dog, and that was how she found out that Mimi has another owner.
Rafter said it will be difficult to say goodbye to the animal her family has known as Gizmo for the past seven years.
"We've loved Gizmo for all of those years and taken care of her," Rafter said. "She's a part of our family and it would be devastating for us to lose her."
Rafter said she had no idea that the dog's real owner had been looking for her. "They told me she had been a gift to this man's wife from her dad and then he passed away," Rafter said.
"I'm a sympathetic person and I wouldn't want to take anybody's dog away, but I'm sure that, as little as she was when we got her, I'm sure we're the only ones she's bonded with."
Norman called the dog's saga "bittersweet" because while one family is thrilled, another is sad.
"It just amazes me when this happens," he said. "I'm hoping people understand the power of a microchip, if they love their animals."
Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/oddstuff/5254728/Missing-dog-found-after-seven-years
Another version of the story:
Dog Soon Reunited With Original Owners After Missing For Seven Years
4029TV.com
POSTED: 9:55 pm CDT July 6, 2011
ROGERS, Ark. -- Rogers resident Kim Rafter is coming to grips with having to give her dog of seven years back to its original owner.
"We've loved Gizmo for all of those years and taken care of her. She's a part of our family and it would be devastating for us to lose her," said Rafter.
Gizmo is a little shitzu who's in the center of a custody battle that stretches clear across the country. It began seven years ago when Rafter was in school.
"A friend of mine knew that we were looking around for a dog and she said that she knew of someone that have been given a little dog," said Rafter.
Rafter didn't know the dog already had an owner until last Saturday, seven years later, when she lost the dog herself.
Bud Norman with the Rogers Animal Shelter told 4029 News a microchip helped them find the original owner.
"He said he left the dog out in the back yard to do his potty jobs and went back out to get the animal, and it wasn't there. They searched the neighborhood, but didn't find the animal, then he moved to California," said Norman.
Norman had to tell Rafter that the man wanted his dog back.
"They told me she had been a gift to this man's wife from her dad and then he passed away," said Rafter.
"I'm a sympethic person and I wouldn't want to take anybody's dog away, but I'm sure that, as little as she was when we got her, I'm sure we're the only ones she's every bonded with," said Rafter.
That bond will have to live on in Gizmo's heart as she will soon be shipped to California to her original owners.
Norman said there's a lesson to be learned from this.
"That's the power of microchip, microchips is a wonderful tool. Keep the information updated," said Norman.
Videos of this story at: http://www.4029tv.com/r/28468670/detail.html and at http://www.onenewspage.us/video/20110707/490992/Dog-Finds-Original-Owners.htm
Souce: http://www.4029tv.com/r/28468670/detail.html
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