A microchip for a dog helps ensure that your lost pet finds its way home. Every once in a while, these pet microchips make it worth sharing a story with other concerned pet parents. This time, a microchip for dogs tells us a story of sadness and joy, almost at the same time. In the hope that this illustrates the importance of getting your dog, or any pet that may be lost, microchipped, I tell you this story.

All eyes were on me. Six of them to be precise. Two, belonging to Keith Jones, are failing. His wife Marjorie’s eyes were misty with tears as she averted her gaze from the two belonging to the dog they called Foxy, a brown Australian Shepherd mix, who was sitting on my exam table looking up at me languidly.

Ms. Smith continued his emotional account as he took a look at Foxy: “Keith wanted a dog and I thought it was a bad idea. He is going blind and I was afraid he would trip over any dog ​​that was following him.” Foxy walked into her backyard and into her lives one afternoon two weeks ago. Wearing a weather-worn collar and a hopeful expression, Ella Foxy got immediate VIP access to the Joneses’ home, as well as Carte Blanche at the dinner table. She paid her benefactors with total devotion to Keith. She was at her side to give and receive affection, raising spirits in the throats of macular degeneration, an irreversible and progressive blindness.

My examination confirmed that Foxy was in good health. The Joneses were elated: their new family member was fit as a fiddle. Then my technician came in with the microchip scanner. Many dogs are impregnated with a small microchip that is placed under the skin between the shoulder blades through a procedure as simple as an injection. Each pet chip is uniquely numbered to identify a specific dog. A national registry maintains the database to allow any microchipped dog to be quickly reunited with its rightful owner. The chip reader waved on Foxy’s back, and the pet’s microchip immediately registered an audible signal and a number.

“Uh-oh. This dog, it seems, already has a home.” We phoned the Microchip Registry and within minutes Foxy’s rightful owner reclassified us. He would go right away to pick her up.

Keith Jones was crying, his wife distraught. Within two weeks she had fallen deeply in love with this dog that seemed like a gift from the universe. It was into this scene of remorse that Maria Lamagna walked in to greet her lost dog, whom she named Susie. The four of us were huddled together in the exam room, all hovering over Foxy/Susie. Ms. Lamagna’s relationship and relief were quickly tempered by the Joneses’ grievance. As she knelt beside Susie, she sensed the Joneses’ pain. There were tears in her eyes as she nuzzled Susie’s neck as the dog lovingly accepted her affection. Ms. It emerged that Lamagna had adopted Susie from a local shelter just three days before the latter parted ways with her to chase a stray dog ​​and never returned. She launched a search, notified the authorities but to this day she had received no response.

Excitement was running high as Mrs. Lamagna raised her own teary eyes to me and said with obvious ambivalence, “I can’t take this dog away from you…after all, you’ve had her longer than I have.” Foxy/Susie sneaked up on Mr. Jones and sat down at her feet. She patted her head and through her own tears declared to Mrs. Lamagna, “I can’t take your dog!” But Maria stood her ground. Putting her own feelings aside and ignoring Mr. Jones’s protests, she simply asked, “Can I come and visit you?”

“Of course!” both Keith and Marjorie screamed simultaneously. A new friendship was made on the spot. Ms. Lamagna looked at me again, “Will you help me find another dog?”

“We’re already on it.” She wasn’t exaggerating. From the moment Mrs. Lamagna had called us on the phone, my staff had been searching our considerable database to find a replacement dog for Mr. Jones. The previous week’s applications on behalf of another client had yielded a number of leads and our close relationship with local shelters and rescues promised several more. There is no shortage of wonderful dogs looking for good homes.

The experience left me with complicated emotions, euphoria and sadness mixed into one, but overall a sense of faith in the goodness of people and joy in the magic that pets bring to life.