Chico is one lucky little dog! He panicked with all the fireworks Saturday night and bolted through a tiny gap in his backyard fence. His owners couldnt find him in the dark, and worried all night about his safety, especially since he had no collar or tags. At 9:45pm Lisa Ostroski spotted the small dog running down Carrie Avenue. She was able to coax him over, and, with her friend Michelle Siderius started walking up and down the surrounding streets to see if they could find the owner.
At around 11pm they decided to give up for the night. Michelle took Chico home, and Lisa posted a notice in the bulletin section of Sayville.com. Our webmaster spotted it, and notified the Lost and Found Pet Response team. It was too late to do much of anything, so we emailed Lisa and told her we would touch base in the morning,
Sunday morning Lisa and Michelle continued searching for the dogs owner. Dr Caporaso lent us the scanner, and Kris and I went over to Lisa’s to scan for an ID chip. The dog had one! Unfortunately, when we contacted the chip company, it wasn’t registered to an owner.
Chico may be small, but he has a big dog attitude. He wasn’t getting along with Lisa’s dog at all, so Kris offered to watch him temporarily. We knew that, somewhere close by, someone was frantic to get their dog back.
We posted “Found Dog” flyers all around the area and waited. At the same time, Chico’s owner Kristin was making up “Lost Dog” Flyers and, when she went to put them up, saw our poster. Problem solved! Soon Chico was back with Kristin and the rest of his family.
About ID chips: They can really help identify a lost pet, but the owner must register with the company and notify them of any change in address or contact info. In Chico’s case, Kristin wasnt sure if he had a chip or not. It was probably implanted by the breeder and never updated when Chico was a puppy.
We are all so glad that Chico is home safe. Many thanks to Lisa and Michelle for taking him in and keeping him safe.
