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!