Daisy Back Home AND WORK After Two Months

When Sandra was looking to bring a new dog into her family a few years ago, a client of her chicken raising business in Florida thought she had the perfect pet. Daisy, a pitbull boxer mix already lived around chickens, so there wouldn’t be a problem knowing how she would react in the family business environment.

Daisy “at work” at home. Photos courtesy Daisy’s mom.

The selection was more perfect than could have been imagined!  Not only did Daisy not bother the chickens, so self designated her as their protector!   So each day she would start out by walking the property.  One day when Daisy’s mom was out of town, Daisy it seems wandered a bit further than normal, possibly looking for “mom”.   After not reappearing when expected, “dad” went to the neighbors asking if anyone had seen her.   Nobody had seen her, so signs were posted and upon the return of Sandra the next day a full out lost pet outreach campaign swung into full gear!

Almost two months later, she received “that call” saying “I have your dog”!

Lake County Sheriff’s Department Officer Katie Anderson had responded to a call about a stray dog that had picked up in her County. Turns out that the dog was being cared for in an apartment in a neighboring county.   When she responded to the apartment to retrieve the dog, she was told that the husband had picked it up a few days earlier, but that they could not keep the dog in their apartment.

Once returning to her van, Officer Anderson scanned the dog with her mobile chip scanner and was in luck!   A chip was detected and when she contacted the microchip company she was told the dog had been reported as missing weeks earlier.   Officer Anderson called the contact number provided and quickly Sandra was at the other end of the phone reacting with pure elation!  

Happily it was early enough in the day that Officer Anderson was able to discuss a point to rendezvous with Daisy’s owner at the Mount Dora Police Station parking lot.

REUNITED!

Below is the Back Home announcement posted on the Lost Dogs Florida Facebook page.

Sandra shared the exciting news in a post:

“DAISY IS HOME!!!!! After two months, we have our Daisy back!! She’s in perfect health, right down to her sparkly nail polish and sweet as a rose shampoo scent! (I’m not kidding.)”

Sandra went on to post:

 

“Here’s the story:

Got a call from Lake County Animal Services today. Daisy had been picked up by animal control, scanned for a microchip and identified as ours.

We met the Lake County Animal Control truck at the Mt. Dora Police Station and they handed her right over to us. She didn’t have to go to animal services, there was no paperwork, and we paid no fines or fees. Win, win for everyone, hooray!

 

The Lake County associate (dog catcher), a wonderful young lady, relayed that the woman who surrendered Daisy said that her husband found Daisy two days ago and they called animal services because they live in an apartment where animals aren’t allowed. The woman cried when she gave up Daisy.

 

Here’s what we believe:

The husband picked up Daisy near the end of our driveway on Sunday, March 5th. They loved and cared for Daisy for eight weeks before being found out. For that I am grateful. I’m just glad circumstances forced them to give her up. Daisy was still wearing her black nylon collar and Soresto flea collar. However, she was missing her ID tag. Hmmmm.

 

Daisy, for her part, acts as though she never left.  She and her two doggy sisters smelled rumps, the canine equivalent of “welcome home”?  Then she went out and found her beloved Frisbee.  Then she played on her rope. She even answered the distress call of one of the chickens. And she’s currently lying at my feet.

 

 

Thank heavens Daisy was microchipped. Thanks to everyone who helped in our search, both the friends and family we know, and those kind strangers we’ll never know.”

• As a pitbull mix, many will recognize that her fate had she ended up in a shelter might have been tragically different despite her loving nature.   The fact that she had a visible tag AND a microchip that was registered and up-to-date with contact info would have assisted in getting her reunited in a shelter situation.  

• This story also shares a common theme of other reunion stories we share in that Daisy DID have both a visible tag and microchip.  Even without a collar/tag, any stray that is found should be considered FIRST as someone’s pet.   While there are good samaritans who may believe they are being kind to welcome a stray into their home, due diligence to quickly work to learn if the animal has an owner should always be the procedure to follow.  

• We want to close by thanking the Lake County Sheriff’s Department for being part of a growing trend to provide mobile microchip scanners in their vehicles!   This allows for scenarios such as Daisy’s to take place … identifying, contacting, and reuniting pets more quickly and efficiently. The result in this case, one less dog needing to go to a shelter environment, saving the pet from unnecessary stress and the owner intake fees, and a shelter less resources spent on a pet that had a home!