Microchip helps to identify lost animal; funds needed for flight
Joan Cronk
Last updated: November 4th, 2011
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| Dr. Laura Waters saved Abby, a Border Collie, with donated medical services after the dog’s embedded microchip showed she’d been displaced from the East Coast. Waters hoped to find a donor to help pay for the costs of shipping the dog back to her rightful owners. |
Dr. Laura Waters of Peninsula Pet Hospital believes in microchips for pets in case they are lost or stolen.
“The thing about microchipping is, if you want a good chance of getting your pet back, you’ll do it,” Waters said.
It was lucky for Abby, an energetic border collie with a keen sense of survival, that her original owner had one implanted right between her shoulder blades.
Microchips are small, about the size of a grain of rice, and they last a lifetime. A veterinarian can inject the chip, and if that animal turns up lost or stolen, a quick scan can reveal the owner as quick as a wink.
The cost is $39.95 if Peninsula Pet Hospital does the implant, and that includes the first-year fee to HomeAgain of $14.95.
HomeAgain maintains a database of all pets with the implant. The fee needs to be renewed each year.
The system worked four weeks ago when a citizen found Abby wandering and took her to Peninsula Pet Hospital in Gig Harbor.
Waters said the dog was bedraggled, covered in fleas and had numerous skin problems. When she scanned the animal, she found that the owner, Pete Olmeda, lived in South Carolina.
Olmeda said Abby had been missing since the end of 2009. He had reported the dog missing to HomeAgain, but there were no hits on the microchip.
Back in Gig Harbor, Abby needed care, and she needed it quickly.
The staff at Peninsula Pet Hospital treated the dog they described as a sweet little girl who loves everyone. She currently is receiving regular baths, and her skin is being treated with antibiotics. The fleas have flown the coop, but her skin is still sore and crusty, Waters said.
Abby goes for walks every day with members of the staff and receives a lot of love and attention. Now the challenge is to return Abby to South Carolina.
Olmeda, a Petty Officer 3rd Class in the U.S. Coast Guard, lives with his wife and two boys in Summerville, S.C. He couldn’t believe it when he learned that Abby had been found in Gig Harbor.
“When they told me Washington,” Olmeda said, “I said ‘Washington, D.C.? Gig Harbor is 2,946 miles from my house!”
Olmeda bought Abby from a breeder when she was a puppy and had just begun to train her when she disappeared. He plans to start up with the training as soon as she returns to South Carolina, which may be sooner than later.
Waters said Sunday that HomeAgain has donated $500 to fly Abby back to her rightful owners, and two of her clients have donated cash toward the flight as well. As soon as the health certificate is in order, she should be on her way.
Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/11/04/v-printerfriendly/1892830/peninsula-pet-hospital-helping.html#storylink=cpy
Source: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/11/04/1892830/peninsula-pet-hospital-helping.html
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