A woman and her missing Great Dane were reunited last week thanks to a microchip
Melony Niles gets ready for a kiss from her dog, Zoey, outside her Central Point residence. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune]
Melony Niles gets ready for a kiss from her dog, Zoey, outside her Central Point residence. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune]
A 6-year-old Great Dane named Zoey is home with her family after disappearing more than two and a half years ago, thanks to a microchip.
Zoey was found last week, running free after a structure fire at a house near Talent. Animal control officers who picked up the dog were able to contact Central Point resident Melony Niles because she microchipped Zoey as a puppy.
Niles said she thought she would never see her beloved Blue Dane again, but she always held out hope.
“Me and my three kids had four dogs and we lost our house after I lost my job. I’ve never been in a situation like that before. I was just desperately trying to find places to house all of us. I remember thinking that the dog older, Zoey, would probably be the last one I could find a place for because she’s huge. People don’t always want to deal with really big dogs,” Niles said.
“People had suggested posting him on Facebook asking for help. I was very surprised that he was the first dog I’d ever received an offer to take someone in. This lady offered right away. We were chatting back and forth online, and then I went to meet her. It seemed like a good place.”
Over time, however, the updates about her dog became fewer and fewer, and eventually stopped altogether, Niles said. By the time Niles got to his feet, Zoey’s family had moved out without informing him.
“My saving grace was that I remembered to have her microchipped. I knew that if I ever took her to be seen by a vet, or if someone else did, someone would scan her and contact me,” she said Niles.
Although it wasn’t a vet office that scanned Zoey, it was local animal control office Mike Slusarczyk who was called in to help firefighters catch the frightened dog. Slusarczyk said microchip success stories have become more common in recent years.
“As soon as we caught her, I was able to look for a chip and it immediately appeared,” he said.
“It’s very helpful for our officers to be able to bring dogs home immediately when we have the owner’s contact information. A tag may fall off, but this is like a permanent tag that’s embedded in the dog, so you know they’ll always come back if they get lost.”
Niles said she was enjoying having Zoey at home, with all the dog’s old habits, from lounging on the couch “sitting like a person” to getting up and giving hugs to her favorite people.
“I never thought I’d ever see her again. I got an email from (the microchip service) Home Again saying, ‘Great news! Your dog has been found. We gave your information to the Jackson County Animal Shelter, and they will contact you,” Niles recalled.
“I was in tears. I didn’t even have time to call because the officer, Mike, called me right away.
Niles said Zoey was shy at the shelter, but “got really excited” as soon as the pair loaded into Niles’ car.
“Once we got outside, it’s like she took a moment to look at me and smell me, and you could tell she realized, ‘Oh my God, that’s my mom! ‘ She’s back to the same young puppy she was. She’s just not like the young puppy she was when I lost her,” Niles said.
“The Danes don’t live long. She was just over 4 years old when I lost her, and she will be 7 in December. I don’t know what kind of life she had while she was away from me, but I will make sure that the time I have with her will be spoiled and know how much I love him.”
Slusarczyk said Niles’ decision to chip Zoey made for a happy ending that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.
While microchipping “with a vet visit and other things involved” can be expensive, Slusarczyk said, the shelter’s microchipping clinics offer the service for $25.
“The most important thing to remember is not just the microchip, but if you’ve been a responsible pet owner and microchipped your cat or dog, make sure you keep the information up to date as well. If your dog is running, it won’t do any good if they get scanned and old information comes up,” he added.
“Melony’s physical address had changed, but her phone number hadn’t, which is why we were able to bring Zoey home. A microchip is a tag that can never be dropped or removed.”
For information on microchip clinics at the Jackson County Animal Shelter, see fotas.org/event/by-appointment-low-cost-microchip-clinic-copy/
Contact Mail Tribune reporter Buffy Pollock at 541-776-8784 or bpollock@rosebudmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @orwritergal.
