Blue Cross blog

There’s nothing more heart-warming than reuniting a missing pet with their owner and seeing the relief on both faces. Here are some of our favourite reunion stories which would never have happened if it wasn’t for a microchip, as Blue Cross editor Natasha Kleanthous reveals…. 

Stolen dog Cricket finds his way home

Poor little Jack Russell terrier Cricket was found howling in the basement of a building. No one knew who she belonged to so she was brought to Blue Cross.

The nurses at our Hammersmith animal hospital scanned her and found a microchip so we managed to get the details of the owner and contact her.

It turns out that she had tied Cricket up outside the doctor’s surgery while she popped inside and when she came back out she discovered that her dog’s lead had been cut and she was missing.

Distraught, she had spent most of the night wandering around trying to find Cricket.

The pair were delighted to see each other again and Cricket happily returned home. Now her owner knows how dangerous it can be to leave a dog tied up in the street unsupervised, we’re pretty sure we won’t be seeing Cricket again. 

Car accident leaves runaway dog Zena in hospital

Dog Zena was found seriously injured and in severe shock after being hit by a car when she ran off while out on a walk with her owner.

She was rushed to our Hammersmith animal hospital where we placed her on a drip and gave her antibiotics and pain relief.

Because she was microchipped we could quickly contact her owner, Zoe Kealy, who had been beside herself with worry.

She says: “It was most unlike Zena to run off like that. She was only missing for six hours but it was horrific.

“I’d rung everyone I could think of to report her missing and had already put up posters. We were beside ourselves.”

Zoe adds: “We know that if she hadn’t been microchipped we might never have seen her again. It’s absolutely vital to make sure that your pet is microchipped.”

Missing dog Charlie found on the street 

Philippe Hockley went to the doctors’ surgery to make an appointment and when he came back his dog Charlie, who he had tied up outside, had gone.

Philippe, who’s a client of the veterinary welfare clinic at our Felixstowe centre rushed to us to see if anyone had brought him in, which sadly they hadn’t.

He was distraught so our centre staff contacted the dog warden for him to see if they’d had any calls about a stray dog.

We had also microchipped Charlie previously so we let the microchip company know he had gone missing and Philippe contacted the police.

Later on that day a police community support officer saw a dog matching Charlie’s description outside a local supermarket with two men.

They confronted the men and soon found out that the dog was indeed Charlie.

Because Charlie was microchipped Philippe was able to prove it was his dog and this meant that he could be quickly reunited with him.

Find out more about microchipping with our FAQs.