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| ANNIE'S STORYShould I micro chip my family pet?
Amos is a 90 pound male boxer who is a fun loving and gentle as a lamb. We got him six years ago because we wanted the unconditional love offered by companion animals that help make a house a home. At the same time we got Amos, we also got a small grey tabby cat and named him Andy. We liked the idea of having a playmate for Amos but we weren’t sure we wanted two dogs. Amos and Andy got along very well and played all the time. Within a month we realized that although Amos and Andy were best of friends and got along famously, Amos needed something with more mass to play with. We made the decision to get Amos another dog friend to play with. We took Amos with us on our search of a second Boxer as this was Amos’s house now and he would get to choose his new buddy. We went to the home of a friend who had recently had a litter of Boxers.
Amos, even as a puppy is a bit oversized for a boxer. He seemed a giant trying to play with this large litter of puppies. All the puppies were afraid of him because of his size, except this one puppy, the runt of the litter, who not only wasn’t intimidated but kept jumping on him and nipping at his jowls and then she’d run with Amos in hot pursuit. As you can guess this runt of a dog was to become Amos’s closest buddy. We named her Annie and she followed Amos everywhere. Potty training was a breeze as she followed him outside and learned to go potty quickly without hardly ever having an accident. Their favorite game became Amos chasing Annie trying to get whatever toy she might be teasing him with at the time.
On July 4th of their third year together, Angel and I took our Niece and Nephew out to play miniature golf. We were only gone about an hour or so. When we returned home our neighbor was outside and told us that Annie had escaped from our yard, he said he had chased her but couldn't’t catch her. Amos was laying on the deck looking across the street in the direction she had run. We were frantic. We went searching, we talked to strangers and got reports of sightings but to no avail. Annie is deathly afraid of loud noises and the fire crackers were almost continuous that night. It was well after dark before we stopped looking that night hoping that she would come back home. We left the lights on as Amos waited by the open door for Annie to come home.
We spent the next two months searching every night by car, we posted signs, we went door to door, we registered on the internet, we took out ads in the local papers we checked at all the Humane Societies and Animal control offices we could find and we went to all the Vet offices with posters offering a reward We did everything we could to find Annie. Over the next two months we would get an occasional call from a Vet office inquiring about Annie and every time the phone would ring we would jump for it.
Amos was doing worse than we were. He was depressed and despondent all the time, he couldn't’t understand where his buddy went. When we searched in the car we would take Amos with us and it seemed like he knew what we were doing as he peered out the windows… searching.
We believe that having a missing pet is almost worse than having one die. We had no closure. Was she dead or alive? Did someone else have her? We didn’t know!
About four months into our ordeal we decided to try to ease Amos’s pain by adopting another Boxer. Along came Danni, she was our third try with adopted dogs and to this day she is a wonderful addition to our family but it was never the same for Amos.
On July 4th of the fourth year, we had pretty much given up on ever getting Annie back.
Angel and I were on the deck outside the kitchen window when the phone rings. A man’s voice on the answering machine said, This is White Bear, Mn. Animal control and we have your dog at our facility. We looked at each other in disbelief. Angel jumped up and said let’s go get her. I said don’t get too excited, it could be another false alarm. She said can’t be, he got our information by reading her chip!
When we arrived at the White Bear facility, the officer said that this is the busiest day of the year for them as so many dogs are afraid of the fire works. He assumed we had lost her last night. When we told him our story he was as happy as we were. When we finally saw Annie, she was a sorry sight. She was emaciated, dehydrated and had been on the run for some time because the pads on her feet were bloody and one was worn off. She was also wearing a collar that she wasn’t wearing when she ran away. Someone had found her and kept her. We were ecstatic to see her through our tears and you could see she was happy to see us even through her pain. She tried to wag her tail, she tried to look happy. We took her right to the Vet and they said that she might not make it through the night. We had to get her to eat and to take liquids.
I carried Annie to the car and on the way home we wondered if Amos would remember his lost buddy. When we arrived home we put Danni in the house and left Amos on the deck. We then opened the car door and Amos and Annie saw each other for the first time in a year. There was a bit of a hesitation, then they both jumped in the air like they were puppies again. Amos knew Annie was hurting and he laid by her the rest of that day. Annie wouldn't’t eat, and wouldn't’t eat, we tried everything. Then Amos took some kibble out of Angel’s hand which seemed to prompt Annie as only then would she take a piece of kibble from Angel’s hand also. The rest of the recuperation was uphill and took a full two months before she was fully recovered.
Amos and Annie are chasing again. Danni never quite caught on but is a very welcomed part of our family.
Should I micro chip my pet? - Angel and I say - Yes!!! |
