On April 22, Harris County Animal Shelter in Houston received a call from a man who lived some 45 minutes away, indicating that he had confined a stray dog for a few days on his front porch, and wanted them to come to get the dog.
The dog was brought in, with no collar or tag, and was scanned for a microchip. None was found. On a shelter volunteer page, a video of the dog was posted to share with the public in hopes of finding the owner.
Reunited with family after 6 months!
*UPDATE: picked up by owner! ❤️*For any Dobie lovers out there, we have this stray turned in! Gentle and handsome! He is a FAWN Doberman. Not a weimaraner. 77336 ZIP CODEhttp://petharbor.com/pet.asp?uaid=HRRS.A481820Harris County Animal Shelter612 Canino Rd. Houston, TX 77076Monday-Friday 1pm-5:30pm (phones 9-12, 1-5:30)Saturday-Sunday 11am-3:30pm (phone lines closed)281-999-3191 (press 0 to skip message & speak to an operator)www.countypets.comDonating to this Harris County cutie: paypal.me/texasshelterv 100% goes directly to the rescue that saves the animal, and if they aren’t rescued, your donation is automatically refunded.Please note the animal’s ID or name in the notes section while checking out!
Posted by Harris County Animal Shelter Volunteers on Saturday, April 22, 2017
In the meantime, the mom of a doberman named Cuco continued her search that started six months earlier. During that time, she had become all too familiar with the diverse sites and efforts to share lost and found pets. Given her dog’s purebred status, one of them was one specific to the breed. It was on that page that the video had been shared, and immediately she knew this was her Cuco!
He was at a shelter that, like many, had a three day hold period for strays with no ID (longer if some form whether it be a tag or microchip). At the same time, Cuco WAS microchipped, but Cuco’s mom had not been contacted.
Immediately Amanda started to message the volunteers administering the Harris County Shelter Volunteers page to let them know this HAD to be her sweet boy.
How Cuco went missing and his very happy reunion.
“One night I came home to find my Cuco (my fawn doberman) missing from our gated yard. I searched and searched and found nothing. So I called about his microchip that we had done when he was a puppy. (Cuco is 3 now) I registered his chip and joined MANY Facebook pages in search of finding him and I also posted his “Lost dog flyer”. I searched and posted on Craigslist in EVERY city in Texas.
I happened to stay up late on a Saturday night precisely because it was the weekend and entered my Facebook account and began scrolling down the page….I saw him. It was a post on one of the Doberman Group pages I was a member of. Luckily, this person saw his post from the Harris County Animal Shelter page and posted it into the Doberman group in hopes of someone rescuing him. As soon as I saw him, I knew this was my lost baby.
6 months of tears streamed down my face and I jumped up and yelled at my husband who was actually home from work. We opened the video and instantly knew it was Cuco. His face, his ears, his temperament….
I immediately messaged/called. I was answered by volunteers of the shelter via Facebook messenger who couldn’t tell me the one identifying thing about my boy. See, Cuco had a funny looking nipple. But I wasn’t going to wait to leave Brownsville and drive to Houston.
We drove 7 hours, knowing this was him. We had seen many dobies before and would get our hopes up, but this time was different. It wasn’t until the morning before opening hour at the shelter, once we were in Houston, that a shelter volunteer confirmed his funny nipple.
They scanned him for a microchip and couldn’t find anything. This was why I was given a hard time about taking him since I said Cuco had a chip done when he was a puppy. They scanned again and still found nothing but they couldn’t deny he was mine…I had already identified in every way possible. Upon seeing him, we burst into tears….he seemed happy to be set free but hadn’t immediately recognized us. He seemed VERY disoriented. We stayed at my cousins house in Houston and he ran around happily with their dogs. He slept the whole way home the next day with our 8 yr old daughter in the backseat. He was relieved. And so were we, after months of crying and consoling my daughter with ” Wherever he is, he must be happy and that’s why he hasn’t come home”. But he wasn’t happy and God knows what he’s been through.
Thanks to Cuco’s mom for providing us with pics of Cuco and family!
Cuco Home At Last …
Amanda reports:
“He came back sickly, underweight, and with broken cartilage to one of his ears (it will never stand again). He used to be “best friends” with our 5 yr old cat Raggs. Now he wants to eat him and every cat he sees. I thought in time he would adjust but, honestly I don’t think he will. That’s ok though, he now has a little sister (another fawn doberman) since we never in a million years thought we would be so blessed.”
Home wasn’t the same with him gone, so we placed a deposit on a female fawn doberman. They get along wonderfully! Cuco came back home and went straight to our veterinarian. He’s anemic and currently receiving treatment. Luckily, all other tests came back negative. He is also eating quality dog food and has even remembered his “sientate” (sit) command. After his vet visit, we visited our local Spay/Neuter clinic (where he received his microchip) to see if they could provide some answers. They scanned him twice as well, and also found nothing. They provided us with another chip and kept both numbers registered just in case. I also called Home Again and registered his new one and asked they keep both on file because strange things do happen….every day. Cuco is feeling much better, eating well, and still loves people. He is still a good natured boy (minus cats) and we are all beyond blessed.
I hope this story serves as hope and a reminder to check up on microchips after they are done to ensure nothing like this happens to anyone else. “
When Amanda took Cuco into the vet to be evaluated, it was confirmed that his microchip was not detected! So a new microchip has been implanted and registered. It’s hard to know why the one he had was not detected by either the shelter or her vet. Had it been, he could have been reunited quickly. In addition, had Amanda not been vigilant to keep a look out for Cuco on lost/found pet sites, Cuco many never have made his way home.
Great work to Amanda for not giving up, and for the volunteers working to network strays and give them every chance possible of being reunited.
Welcome home Cuco!
Expanded Efforts by Harris County Animal Shelter
While Cuco was not found in his local shelter, the one that he ended up in is in the process of increasing their efforts to get pets licensed in their County. Such licensing is another way that pets can be positively identified and, in turn, returned home. (of course a visible ID tag is always recommended, along with a microchip)
Recently Telisa Koros joined Harris County Animal Shelter, a part of Harris County Public Health Department, to expand their outreach efforts to improve pet licensing efforts. She has already worked to develop new networks to make signing up for pet licensing more readily available in the community by partnering with area vets to accept license registrations at their facilities. She hopes to further expand this community effort, as well as to enlist other programs targeted to improving the odds of reuniting lost pets that come into their shelter.
In addition, they are working to get out into the community at events such as this one, the Extreme Weather Ready Expo, to reach out to pet owners about how to keep them safe!
We will be following their efforts to learn more about ways they increase the odds of reuniting lost pets in their community!
Story take-aways:
- Even in gated communities and fenced yards, pets can be stolen.
- Always keep a visible ID tag on and make sure your pet is microchipped (and that it is registered and info updated!)
- When you take your pet into the vet, ask them to scan for the microchip to be sure it can be detected, and use this as a reminder to have informed your microchip company of any change in address or phone number for you. Also be sure to provide additional contacts as back up.
Read more of our What If … Return to Owner posts!
By reuniting more lost pets, we can reduce shelter intake!
