For six years, Virginia Bell from Manatee County wondered about the fate of her missing Shih Tzu, Spanky, who had escaped from her yard in 2014.
One of the actions Bell took was to post about her lost Shih Tzu on “Lost and Found Pets 941,” a Facebook page where lost pets are reported and found.
Patty Giarrusso, the creator of the Facebook page, called Bell in June 2020 to inform her that her Shih Tzu had been found.
Bell didn’t know if the Shih Tzu had escaped on its own, was taken from her yard, or a combination of both. However, what she had done before Spanky went missing was have a microchip implanted. This turned out to be crucial, as Giarrusso informed Bell of Spanky’s discovery, all thanks to the microchip.
Spanky was found by Heather Von Seggern while she was walking her Golden Retriever. Von Seggern noted that Spanky didn’t seem like an abandoned dog but appeared to have been outside for a while.
Nevertheless, there’s no evidence of what exactly happened to Spanky from the time he left Bell’s yard until he was found by Von Seggern.
From the evidence, it seems that Spanky was cared for by someone during that time. But the key element in reuniting Spanky with Bell was the microchip. Both Bell and Von Seggern encourage all dog owners to have a microchip implanted in their pets.
The microchip holds all the necessary information about the dog, along with contact information to reunite them with their owners.
In Spanky’s case, the presence of the chip meant that information could be quickly scanned and reported. Without the microchip, Spanky might never have been reunited with Bell.
Although the microchip didn’t solve the mystery of where Spanky had been all those years, it’s clear from the evidence that someone had taken care of Spanky at some point.
Whether that person or people decided to let Spanky go or if the Shih Tzu escaped on its own will never be known. But what’s understood is that the microchip played a significant role in bringing Spanky back to his owner.
Microchips are considered a significant advancement over the old dog license tags that can be easily removed. Since microchips are placed under the skin, they stay in place unless located and removed by a veterinarian. Additionally, the microchip contains the dog’s name, owner’s contact information, and any other pertinent details.
For Spanky, this meant being reunited with Virginia Bell, who will likely keep a close eye on her Shih Tzu.
What the story reinforces is that while a microchip might not reunite all pet owners with their beloved animals, it increases the chances of that happening. Thus, getting a microchip is a worthwhile investment.