Bradley Wieferich thought it was a prank when he received a call from a microchip company telling him his dog had been found in Toledo four years after she ran away. Toledo is more than a hundred miles away from his home.
“I was stunned,” Bradley said.
Toledo police found his dog, Bambi, wandering around a neighborhood. The officer took her to animal control, where she was scanned. Her microchip discovered, and gave Bradley’s contact info.
“She was very thin, but very sweet,” said Laura Simmons-Wark, who works for the shelter. “Who knows where she’s been all this time. We have no idea how she made it all the way down here.”
Bambi, who is twelve years old, was reunited with her family. Bradley says he initially didn’t recognize her, but then saw marking on her muzzle and heard her familiar howl.
“She was ready to come home,” he said.
Bambi had been with the family since she was 7 or 8 months old. She started escaping after their other dog, a golden retriever, died of cancer. They bought another dog to keep Bambi company, but she ran away again. After searching for a long time, they had to assume that she had been readopted or had died.
“I’m really amazed that she’s back,” Bradley said.
Bambi shows the importance of micro-chipping your dog, and to make sure to scan stray dogs for them.
“Not all stray dogs are homeless,” Simmons-Wark said. “Some are just lost.”
Source: ABC6