Thanks to embedded chip, lost dog reunited with owner
Published: January 3, 2007
Bliss through technology.
That was Sara Westinfelder’s experience over the holidays last week, when she received a call from the Humane Society of Boulder Valley informing her that her dog, Willow, lost for 16 months, was alive and well.
“I was so excited, I started crying,” Westinfelder said from her home in Washington state. “I’m thankful that the animal shelter scanned her, that they took the time to look for her chip.”
That embedded microchip, encoded with an identification number, was the last and only link remaining between the jet-black Labrador retriever and her 25-year-old owner. And it was the only reason that Westinfelder was able to reunite with her long-lost friend, who flew from Denver to Seattle in the cargo hold of a commercial flight Tuesday night.
“I think she’ll remember me because we were pretty good buds,” Westinfelder said a few hours before Willow was scheduled to arrive at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Westinfelder, a veterinarian technician, said she had given up hope long ago of ever seeing her 5-year-old companion, whom she had picked up in Colorado as a 6-week-old puppy. She left Willow with some friends in June 2005 when she moved to an apartment in Washington state that didn’t accept pets.
Two months later, her friends told her Willow had disappeared from the yard.
When Willow didn’t turn up for several months, Westinfelder assumed the worst.
That is, until Dec. 15, when the rambunctious Lab was picked up by animal-control officers and turned into Pueblo Animal Services as a stray. Nearly two weeks later, Willow arrived at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley as part of a 19-dog transfer from Pueblo.
“She was really gregarious and friendly - really outgoing,” said Lisa Pedersen, director of development with the organization.
But before putting Willow up for adoption, the Humane Society scanned the dog for an embedded microchip that could lead to an owner. The next day, the shelter contacted Westinfelder after finding her name in a national database.
“This is a great example of why it’s important your pet has a microchip with current contact information,” Pedersen said.
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