Help Pets Find Way Home By Updating Tags, Microchips
ROSEVILLE (CBS13) – The Placer County SPCA takes in about 2,000 dogs a year – and only about 35 percent of them get reunited with their owners.
However, a few simple things can help pet owners keep Fido safe.
Ten-year-old Tula arrived at the shelter about three weeks ago. She was put into foster care but escaped out of the backyard. But thanks to a collar, tags and a microchip, she was returned to a safe place.
Unfortunately, not all stories end up like Tulas.
"He's all black with a thin white stripe and a bushy shepherd tail," Pamela Payen said.
Five-year-old shepherd-lab mix Freddie has been missing from his East Sacramento home since February.
"We removed the collars from our three dogs so they wouldn't get caught in the fence," Payen said. "I turned around, and he was gone."
Casting a wide net around the region, Pamela and her family hit up all the local shelters, posted flyers and appealed to the masses on social media for help.
But with no tags or microchip, the odds of reuniting Freddie with his family are slimming down
"We miss him, our dogs miss him, he deserves to be home," Payen said.
Leilani Fratis with the Placer County SPCA has been in the animal welfare business for twenty years. She says, in most cases, dogs with identification don't end up in shelters – they are usually reunited with their families thanks to tags or microchips.
The identification chip is painlessly injected between the animal's shoulder blades. And even though it's only the size of a grain of rice, it's the biggest thing you can do to ensure dogs like Freddie get back to their families fast.
"Often, the information is out of date," Fratis said.
Tula is now available for adoption and would do best in a quiet home. And while Tula looks for her forever home, Freddie's family says they won't stop searching until he's back home safe and sound.
