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bellYllub t1_iwjf00y wrote

Reply to comment by wolfgang784 in Lost dog hands itself in at Loughborough Police Station by Ovvenchips

You’re an awesome person for helping those dogs! Thank you so much for caring!!

I have to ask though, are microchips not common where you are? It’s the law in England that not only does your dog have to have a collar and tag with name, address and a contact number on but they must also be microchipped too.

Both my dogs have a tag on their collar with all the relevant info on it, but even if they somehow lose their tag, they’re still microchipped and we keep their chip info up to date so that if they go missing, any vet/police/etc could scan them and immediately get the info needed to call us!!

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wolfgang784 t1_iwkiv4z wrote

They might have been chipped, but as luck would have it each of the times cept that one I found the owners quickly.

If I hadn't, idk what I woulda done tbh. Each of those times I was omw to scheduled engagements with someone who is absolutely terrified of dogs to a phobia point so I dunno if I woulda canceled going to my nieces birthday for example in order to drive the dogs to a vet for a chip check.

Although they were all super friendly good boys at least. No barking or growling, licks and love lol.

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bellYllub t1_iwwbbmm wrote

I’m glad you helped out with all of those dogs. Sucks that you were put in an awkward situation regarding either missing an important party or dealing with the lost dog. I don’t blame you for not wanting to drive them to a vet for a chip scan. Handing them off to somebody that has the time to handle it is just as good!!

In the UK, I’d have been able to call the non-emergency police number and tell them I found a lost dog. When it happened to my friend (she lives opposite a huge woodland space where a lot of people exercise their dogs) she called the non-emergency police line and told them she’d found a dog that had either slipped her collar and run off (so no tags) or had been abandoned in the woods and wandered onto her property.

The police sent an officer out to fetch the dog when she explained that she had no way to bring it to the station (she doesn’t drive). They came out and took the pup, then scanned her for a microchip at the station and got the dog’s name (Tara!) and her owner’s info.

Turns out Tara had indeed slipped her collar while on a walk and bolted into the woods after a squirrel. The poor owner had been frantically searching for hours and was ridiculously happy to get the call from the police saying that she’d been found and turned over to them.

I’ve known other people that have called the RSPCA to report dogs they’ve found and they do the same. Collect the dog and scan for a chip.

Not every dog gets back to their owner (a lot of people don’t remember to update the info on the chip when they change their number or address!) but microchips really are brilliant if used correctly.

You definitely didn’t do anything wrong by not immediately sacrificing your own engagements to get the dog scanned though. You do what is right for you at the time. It’s not your fault the dog got lost so you shouldn’t be expected to move heaven and earth to get them home!! Handing them off to someone else is just as good!

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TootsNYC t1_iwl4thk wrote

Chips are great, but they need to be scanned with equipment. Whereas if your phone number is on the collar, someone can call you sooner.

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bellYllub t1_iwntnqo wrote

I agree! Both my dogs have a tag on their collar that has their name, my name, my address and my phone number. When we moved house one of the first things I did was order new tags for them with the new address!

In the event that they get lost, whoever finds them would have all the info needed to contact me.

My dogs are still chipped though and have been since we got them, even before it was a legal requirement to chip them! It was one of the first things we had our vet do when we took them to get their annual vaccinations!

A tag can get lost, a microchip is forever!

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janet45011 t1_iwomkde wrote

It would be so much easier if you could take a lost dog into a supermarket and scan him at the check out!

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bellYllub t1_iwwcz4m wrote

That’s actually a bloody good idea!!!

If each village/town and all the big supermarkets in cities had a designated place that held a microchip scanner, it would be so much quicker and easier to check lost pets for microchips!

No wasting police time calling about lost pets or calling the RSPCA (or your local animal rescue) to collect them. Just take them to the designated spot and get them scanned so you can call the owner and say “Found your pet!”

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