There was joy all round recently when a family were finally reunited with their beloved Patterdale terrier, Mitch, after five months apart.
Despite posting seemingly endless appeals for help on lost dog websites – to no avail – the family had not given up hope of finding Mitch again. Sure enough, five months later, their prayers were finally answered.
Owner Mark Vallance recalls answering the telephone at about 8pm, to hear a helpful stranger’s voice asking if Mitch belonged to him, because he had the dog, safe and well, with him.
Mr. Vallance spoke of his reaction when they discovered Mitch was safe:
“I couldn’t believe it, I just screamed, the wife was screaming and crying, it’s unbelievable.”
His wife, Mel, gushed:
“Within two minutes of getting the call we were in the car on our way… I feel an emotional wreck, the tears just keep coming. As we walked in the vets Mitch went crazy. What a moment.”
It turned out that when Mitch had escaped from the family garden five months previously, she had managed to slip her collar in the process – leading to her being misidentified as a stray by a concerned individual who was driving past. Not wanting to leave her out in the cold, he took the pup home with him, where his children immediately fell in love with the pup – even naming her Daisy – and giving her a temporary home.
However, after several months the crafty canine managed to escape their garden as well, and was taken to a local vets to check whether she had been microchipped. Fortunately, she had, and vets were able to contact the Vallance family and notify them of her location, 25 miles away.
Mr. Vallance said:
“It shows the importance of micro chipping. It doesn’t cost that much and in our case has brought our dog back home.”
References
1 Wisbech Standard
