This post is about microchipping your dog, but first I want to tell you our story. The story of me and Uggy and the scare of possibly losing him.
I’ve written about Uggy a couple of times, he is my sidekick, my friend, my buddy, my confidant, my warmth and the most loyal, sweet-natured dog I’ve ever had. I couldn’t picture my life without him. However, the first week he came home to me, he managed to get out. It was 11 at night, and we always had foxes and cats in the garden in the evening, to this day I am sure that is what he went chasing. I heard the cracking at the woody bank at the back of the house, only I couldn’t get through the fence how he had. I ran out of the house, straight down the path at the side of the house, through the woody bank and on to the street.
It was silent and empty.
I searched for him, hoping that I could find him, that he would hear my voice and run to me. I was hoping that my gorgeous rescue dog would want to come to me after only a few days.
He didn’t.
I ran home, by this time the tears were pouring down my cheeks, stinging because of the cold and I could barely breathe. I had to find him. I’ve never lost anything before that had such a strong impact on me. In other words, he was now the most important thing I’d ever lost. Losing him for good was not an option.
I began calling all the vets, the dog warden, I sent his picture to the local Lost Dog sites, I offered a reward.
They told me to call back in the morning.
I couldn’t sleep, my chest hurt from crying, I’ve never cried like that before. I guess a sense of despair, panic, loss and guilt that I couldn’t find him was slowly eating me alive.
I started calling again at 8am, just hoping that someone could tell me something.
‘Hi I called last ni-ni-night about my dog, he went missing, white American Bulldog with brown patches, he is about 58kg, his….collar is green and ye-ye-yellow’. The tears took over again.
I had to take a deep breath to calm down.
‘If you can confirm a few details for me please?’
‘Yes! Anything.’
‘Is he microchipped, what does it say on his collar and what does he answer too?’
‘Yes, he is’….
I went on to the details the chip held, the collar and his name. ‘It’s Uggy’.
A name that I wanted so badly to change but now nothing was more important than just getting him home. They informed me they had just packed him off to a local kennel and I could pick him up from there. I was there within an hour and paid the fine. I couldn’t have cared less about how much it cost. They said that if I hadn’t called they would have scanned him and called later in the day. They could only do that because he was microchipped, the little chip loaded with all the information to get him home would have been the one thing any vet, kennel or warden could check and get in touch.
When I was waiting in the seating area, I was facing the door, when he saw me he ran straight into my arms. Two things happened that day, I really became his person and he really became mine too.
When I heard that microchipping was going to be compulsory in England it made me very happy. Just a few minutes in the vets, a small cost and you are providing you and your dog with a safety net should anything happen. Dogs are a member of the family and the two things you can do for them is get great Pet Insurance and Microchipping and hopefully by taking these steps, if your dog ever goes missing you will get a happy ending too. From the 6th of April 2016, all dogs must be microchipped and registered to an approved database by the time they are 8 weeks old. For every dog that is currently not microchipped, you will have until 6th of April to get them microchipped and registered on an approved database. For more information on the new regulation and how they will impact you, what will happen when you get your dog chipped, and more, click the link above.
*collaboration
