Buddy, black lab

Dog Missing Since 2007 Reunited With Owners After 7 Years
by Sara Gates, The Huffington Post
04/10/2014

Welcome home, Buddy!

A black Labrador retriever who went missing during the 2007 California wildfires has finally found his way home. The dog was reunited with his owners in San Diego on April 1 thanks a $10 microchip the family had implanted in the pup as a precaution, according to Fox 5.

Another Happy Tale for the otherwise dreadful MONDAY!!!

Mr. Hartman had his dog "Buddy" microchipped and neutered in 2005 after he was impounded after he escaped from the yard one day.

In 2007 the devestating fires that burned through San Diego County left Mr. Hartman and his family without a home. Mr. Hartman called the Department and updated his contact information and notified us that Buddy was displaced after the fires and they were looking for him.

Seven years later, Buddy comes to the shelter on Gaines Street. When we scanned him for the microchip and called Mr. Hartman right away. The family was absolutely estatic that he was found!!

Mr. Hartman and his wife have since moved to Oklahoma but were in San Diego visiting their son when they got the call. Coincidence or fate?

April 1, 2014, Mr. Hartman and his wife picked up 10 year old Buddy and they left San Diego to head back to Oklahoma. A $10 microchip made it all happen!

John Hartman and his wife, who have since moved to Oklahoma, were visiting their son in the southern California city earlier this month when they received an unusual call from the county's Department of Animal Services. A passerby reportedly found the Lab wandering near Imperial Beach and brought him into a local animal shelter. When workers scanned the dog's microchip they realized the lost pup belonged to the Hartmans and had been missing for nearly seven years.

"We’ve reunited animals from across the country and even the world with their owners, but seven years is one of the longest time periods we were able to reunite a pet and its owner," Dan DeSousa, deputy director of San Diego's Department of Animal Services, told County News Center.

The Hartmans, who lost their home in the wildfires, weren't sure what happened to Buddy after the blaze. Though someone initially found the pup at the time, he escaped and was last seen in the area of Imperial Beach in late 2007. It seems Buddy found a new home, and may have gotten loose when he was spotted on March 28.

San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com

"He's in really good health. Whoever had him took really good care of him," Hartman told CBS 8.

Earlier this month, another Labrador who went missing shortly before Hurricane Sandy was reunited with his family after 17 months.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10/dog-reunited-with-owners-7-years-missing_n_5127079.html

BA, great dane

Owner reunited with lost dog after 7 years apart
By Marc Martinez, FOX 10 New
Posted: Nov 28, 2012

TEMPE, Ariz. - This story is pretty incredible. A valley man who lost his dog in North Carolina has gotten his dog back 7 years later.

It was all thanks to a microchip implanted in the dog's shoulder.

The dog was found wandering the streets of Durham, North Carolina last month in pretty bad shape.

After the Humane Society scanned him for a chip, they found a phone number that put them in touch with his owner, who now lives in Tempe. Now after all these years the two are now back together.

ASU assistant swim coach Dan Kesler and his Doberman B.A. have been reunited after spending the last 7 years apart.

B.A. ran off during a thunderstorm in North Carolina when he was 3 years old.

"The first night I spent outside waiting for him to come back, because I honestly thought he would come back that night. Within a week I thought he would show up - but then as weeks turned into months and months turned into years… did I think he'd be back - I can't say yes. But I never gave up hope."

Dan always wondered what happened to his four legged friend, who had a microchip. He hoped someday he would get the call he was waiting for.

"Yeah I never changed my number throughout the years depending on the job or wherever I was at - I never changed the number just in case this happened."

Four weeks ago the call finally came.

"Oh my God it's my dog - I have to do whatever I have to do to get my dog back!" he recalls.

B.A. was flown to Arizona at the beginning of the month. Dan picked him up at the airport.

"You know there's little commands that he knew were me - that he remembered and picked up on. So I honestly think he did remember me."

Dan says it's still hard to believe he and B.A. are back together again.

"There's so many things that had to line up throughout this whole process that ended up lining up. To be able to have him back as well," he says. "It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing."

You may have noticed B.A. has a bandage on his leg. That's because at some point he broke his leg, and a metal rod had become infected. It's now been taken out and he is well on the road to recovery.

Source: http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/20210983/2012/11/28/owner-reunited-with-lost-dog-after-7-years-apart

Shorty, white fluffy dog

Family's joy after being reunited with dog they lost in wake of Hurricane Katrina SEVEN YEARS ago
By Daily Mail Reporter
23 September 2012

In a heartwarming tale of reunion this 15-year-old white dog is to be returned home to its family after becoming separated from them in the midst of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Shorty's owner's Louisiana home was so badly damaged by the storm that they were forced to surrender their pet pooch to caretakers as they struggled to rebuild their lives.

'They (the owners) were hit really hard during Katrina,' Dr. Blake Peurifoy told NBC News.

'They lost their home and didn’t have the ability to take care of their dog so they gave it away. They don’t know where it went from there.'

Shorty lived with the temporary family in North Carolina for seven years before going missing earlier this month.

They searched high and low for him but came up with nothing until a passer-by spotted the lost pup wandering down a Cabarrus County road.

Shorty was taken to Cabarrus Animal Hospital where veterinarians scanned his micro-chip and were able to get in touch with the original owners.

He was in a sad state, weighing around 15 pounds, his fur soiled and matted, one eye infected.

He also has a heart murmur and severe dental disease but the good news is that he's alive, much to the delight of his family.

Ecstatic: Shorty's owners were in tears when they were reunited with him

'Apparently they were ecstatic about the dog,' Dr. Blake Peurifoy said.

'They were crying and really happy, really interested in getting the dog back whether he lives another three months or three years.'

Dr Peurifoy is treating Shorty free of charge and will keep him in the hospital for a couple of weeks before sending him home.

'I know these people have had the past seven years or so a hard life, thank God I'm not in their position, and we just hope this serves as a sort of a bright spot for them because they certainly deserve it,' the veterinarian told wcnc.com.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2207587/Family-reunited-lost-dog-surrendered-wake-Hurricane-Katrina-seven-years-ago.html

Kanga, chihuahua

Seven Years Later, Lost Dog Returned To Owner
By Andrea Lucia, CBS 11 News
January 29, 2013

DALLAS (CBS 11 NEWS) - Seven years after losing her Chihuahua, Morgan Littrell still wonders what happened to her. “I still think about her a lot.  It’s so weird,” she said.

Two year old Kanga escaped from home during a winter storm. “I knew she couldn’t have gone far. She was little, and it was cold,” said Littrell.

Distraught, she took pictures door to door and put up posters of the little dog.

Even now, she finds herself taking a second look at any stray or lost Chihuahuas, hoping to recognize an old friend.

“I miss her, and I’ve thought about the day I’d get that phone call,” she said.

At Dallas Animal Services, pictures of lost pets like Kanga fill an entire wall.  Lost and Found coordinator, Tony Villareal, scans lost and stray animals for microchips, hoping to identify them and return them to their owners.

Monday, he got a hit on a small dog and dialed the phone number registered to its chip to let the owner know the dog was safe.

“There’s this moment of silence, and all of sudden this burst of tears,” said Villareal.

“I just lost it,” said Littrell. Arriving at Dallas Animal Services, she found the pet she’d lost all those years ago.

“It’s emotional. It’s strange, but it’s exciting,” she said. A little fatter and a little older, Kanga isn’t sharing stories of where she was all this time.



She seems happy to be headed back home, no longer a lost dog.

Source: http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/01/29/dog-found-after-7-years-missing/

Mimi/Gizmo, shih tzu

Missing Dog Found Seven Years After Lost
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.

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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Harley, a min pin

Dog lost in 2001 is found in Broward County, returned to Boca family
Published December, 25th 2008.
By Dale M. King, City Editor

Raymond and Traci Deien of Boca Raton say it’s nothing short of a miracle. And considering the time of year, the family figures it qualifies as Christmas miracle.

Basically, Harley, a miniature pinscher that Traci received as a Mother’s Day present in 1999, disappeared in 2001. She apparently got out through a torn screen – or was stolen by a thief who ripped the screen, the Deiens said.

The family never gave up. And Raymond said he always had a feeling Harley would return. Seasons, holidays, anniversaries and birthdays went by. It was particularly tough on Traci since Harley was born on her birthday, Jan. 22. But one day in early December of this year, the miracle began to emerge from the cloud of doubt.

A min pin – diabetic, blind and poorly cared for – showed up at the Broward County Shelter. An alert worker thought to check the dog for an identification chip. The Deiens had one inserted into Harley when she was a pup. But it hadn’t been updated in years – and still listed the family’s address in California. Some detective work on the Broward animal care worker – including a lot of Google searching – located the Deiens in Boca Raton.

Long Awaited

“We knew it was the right dog,” said Raymond. He, his wife and daughter Roxanne went to the shelter at 8:30 a.m., as they were. When they arrived, they were told the place didn’t open until 10:30. So they waited. It had been seven years, Raymond figure. What difference did a couple more hours make?

Luckily, the Deiens had kept all of Harley’s medical records. “We figured one day we might need them.” And that lucky day finally arrived. The condition of the dog led the Deiens to believe she had been stolen, then hidden and poorly taken care of for years. When it appeared the animal had too many diseases for the thief to take care of, he or she put it out on the street. Luckily, the Broward County animal people were there to bring her in.

Whoever took her “never took her to a vet.” So when the Deiens were able to take Harley away at 10:30 a.m., they took her to a veterinarian. “Everyone welcomed us with arms,” Raymond said. It was pretty much determined Harley was blind because of the untreated diabetes. But “she still had a lot of life,” he said, even at 10 years old.

They ended up taking her to an optometrist in West Palm Beach who is working on the blindness. He told the Deiens he believes the dog may eventually see again – and seems already to be sensing light.

“This was early Christmas present,” said the Deiens with immeasurable joy.

With Harley back home, and the Christmas season fostering memories, Traci Deien remembered Mother’s Day in 1999 when her oldest son, Tim, who was in the service stationed in Nebraska, sent her money to purchase a miniature pinscher as a present. She did, and the family loved her. At the time, the Deiens lived in California, where Raymond was also in the military.

“I retired in 2001, and we moved to Boca Raton Dec. 31, 2000 – New Year’s Eve.” They were living with his brother while they looked for a house. Not long after that, Traci said she went to the market while her daughter, Roxanne, and son, Daniel, were at home. When Traci came home, she said, ‘Where’s Harley?” The family went to a Florida room in the house where they found a screen had been torn. Harley was missing.

“We had posters up downtown, all around the neighborhood, the whole nine yards,” said Raymond. “We never stopped looking.” With luck – and a little intervention from the Christmas season – Harley is back home to celebrate her first Christmas this century with Raymond and Traci Deien and children Tim, now 29; Richard, 27; Dan, 24 and Roxanne, 21.

Source: http://www.bocanews.com/local-news/dog-lost-in-2001-is-found-in-broward-county-returned-to-boca-family-99852.htm
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