This is a strange story about a Yorkie who escaped from a house, was found by animal control, and given away as a gift.

It all started when Janet Torren took her 4-year-old dog Shai over to her son’s house for a visit. When the two of them went out Shai managed to get out a sliding door and was eventually picked up by animal control. Torren searched for her beloved dog for 12 days, knocking on doors and making phone calls.

She had called the Stoughton Animal Control many times but was always told her dog was not there. Shai had a microchip so Torren called the company to see if any vets had scanned it in, no one had. However, she decided to call another company and then learned the chip had been scanned by the town pound in Stoughton, the one she had been calling.

Here are the details from Boston.com.

So, once again, Torren called Kristin Bousquet, the town’s animal control officer. There was no answer. After Torren left a message threatening to call police, Bousquet called back and tried to suggest someone else at the pound or the local rescue league may have scanned Shai’s microchip, even though Torren said the company told her that Bousquet had registered Shai.

“It was a continuing change of the story,’’ Torren said. “There was nothing solid to what she was saying. If I asked her a question, she changed the answer. It was one lie after another.’’

After a brief investigation, Murphy found that Bousquet had given the dog to a police officer’s girlfriend, who was planning to move to Florida with Shai. He found that the dog was well fed and in good condition. The officer and his girlfriend, neither of whom Murphy identified, did not know that the dog had been missing, Murphy said.

Torren decided not to press charges against Bousquet, but she was fired from her job as animal control officer last week.

* Pic courtesy David Abel/Globe Staff. Call me crazy, but that doesn’t look like a Yorkie to me.

Sadly, it’s official, California has cut the holding time of shelter dogs from six days to three.  In 1997 the Hayden Bill, otherwise known as the Animal Adoption Mandate, required shelters to hold  abandoned animals a minimum of four days and usually up to six.

The passing of the new budget has undone what this bill was meant to do, give owners time to find their lost pets. It’s not always easy to track down your pet when there are multiple shelters in the area.  Having extra time also gave kill shelters a chance to transfer some of the animals to rescue organizations or no-kill shelters. Now that the time has been cut in half not nearly as many animals are going to be saved.

“It makes a difference because for some animals every day counts,” said Cindy Machado of the Marin Humane Society, which does not euthanize animals that can be adopted. Instead, the society rescues thousands of animals facing death at other shelters.

“The new law will affect a lot of the shelters that we rescue animals from because, especially in this economy, they are bursting at the seams,” she said.

Most Bay Area animal shelters do not kill strays unless they have serious health or behavioral problems – for instance, viciousness – that would make them unsafe to adopt.

Yet many smaller, rural shelters in the Central Valley and in the northern part of the state do not have the space to keep animals longer than required by state law. These shelters are, in many cases, full of pets given up by people who have lost their jobs, seen their homes foreclosed upon, or been forced to move in search of work.

“The places that are overrun with animals don’t have many resources, and now the law will essentially allow them to euthanize animals more quickly,” said Scott Delucchi, vice president of the Peninsula Humane Society. “Probably those shelters were euthanizing animals anyway. It will just be earlier.”

According to this article, published in the San Francisco Chronicle, more than 400,000 dogs and cats were euthanized statewide in 2008.  I realize budget cuts needed to be made in California, but the passing of the new law shows exactly how little value is placed on the lives of dogs, it’s a sad statement about our society.

The one thing to take away from this article is the importance of making sure your dog is properly ID’ed, it could mean the difference between life and death. Microchips remain the most effective way to permanently identify your pet. Keep in mind it must be scanned with a special device, one not available to the public.

We have Dogster’s Together Tag, an innovative pet ID and recovery service.  The tag contains all the necessary information but it also has an ID number which links back to a website, anyone with an internet connection will be able to access it.  If you need to make any changes just go online and update the information.

Even if you don’t live in California it’s imperative to make sure your dog has ID, most lost pets don’t find their way back home. Don’t let your beloved pet become another statistic, part of the 9.6 million animals euthanized nationwide each year.

* Pictured above is Jazzy, she’s been at the Glendale Humane Society for six months and desperately wants a new family to love her. If you think Jazzy’s the girl for you stop by the GHS site to read all about her and get contact information.

The owner of a missing chihuahua in Cincinnati, OH. offered a  $1,000 reward for the safe return of her beloved pet. Carmen Dominguez and Sheila Miller say they found the dog and returned him weeks later after seeing the online ad advertising the reward.

The owner refuses to pay the reward because she thinks they stole her dog. The women claim they picked up the dog when he was about to run into traffic. They say he had no identification.

Here’s where it gets interesting, the women are now suing the owner for not paying out the reward. According to the GrandForksHerald.com the lawsuit, filed by Carmen Dominguez and Sheila Miller, alleges breach of contract and fraud and seeks damages up to $15,000.

I don’t know if the women stole the dog or if the owner just wanted to back out of paying, either way, I can’t imagine suing. So much for just being a good Samaritan and returning the dog because it’s the right thing to do.

Would you ever sue someone if you found a dog and the reward wasn’t paid?  Or do you think the whole thing is ridiculous?  Give me a bark.

There was no picture with this story, the handsome boy above is from Dogster’s Adoption Center. His name is Poindexter and he lost an eye after being attacked by another dog. He is very sweet and loving and in desperate need of a forever home.  The poster lives in Calgary, Canada but he’s being fostered in California. He can be brought to Alberta if anyone there is interested in adopting him. For more info send email to muttsnstuff.

A severe car accident left a family in the hospital and a rottweiler named Ella lost in Tenn. woodland. CBS cameras caught the touching reunion weeks later. WTVF’s Jeff Tang reports.

If you can’t see the video click here.

Earlier this morning I posted about an Australian dog who was lost for 9 years and just reunited with her family thanks to a microchip which provided owner information.

I just came across another story reinforcing how important it is to make sure your dog has proper ID, tags and a microchip.

Haley Cyr, a professional dog trainer for more than four years and the Manager of Training at the Animal Defense League, shares an incident that happened to her just a few days ago.

I want to talk about something that happened to me two days ago. It is a long story but it has a moral, I promise! As I opened my front door Sunday evening, there he was; a small tricolor beagle whose name I would later learn was Rocco. He was blindly running through my apartment complex, obviously panicked and in pain. After a few minutes of coaxing and using my shoelace as a leash, he was in my arms. By his panting and the appearance of his gums, I thought he had heat stoke. When I got him inside, I realized that he also had blood on his face and back. Horrible things ran through my mind! Had he been hit by a car? Had he been in a dog fight?

Once he was cooled down and safe, I decided to drive around my neighborhood and look for lost Beagle signs, hoping to find an owner with tears and a leash looking for their dog. Rocco hopped right into my car; he was obviously somebody’s baby. He was neutered (hurray!), but had no collar. I prayed that he had been micro-chipped. We drove around my neighborhood with no luck. I decided to take him to the emergency vet to be checked, and hopefully to find his parents through (still praying) his microchip.

As I drove out of my neighborhood hood, I heard sirens. Nothing I could have imagined could have been worse then what had really happened to him. My heart dropped into my stomach. A little Mazda had apparently crashed into a parked 18-wheeler at full speed. The entire roof of the car had been ripped off. The police had the road completely blocked off. I suddenly realized what had happened to Rocco. I parked my car and fought the crowd to ask an officer if a beagle had been involved in the accident. His face lit up and he told me how Rocco had been in the car during the accident. Rocco’s Mom had been driving the Mazda, and his Aunt was in the passenger seat. Both women had been seriously injured and were rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. Rocco was fine. It wasn’t his blood that I had found on him.

Officer Lee was the person who helped me. He was relieved that I had the dog and collected my information, promising to let the ladies know Rocco was safe and how they could get him back home. He kept his promise. I took Rocco to the emergency vet, keeping my fingers crossed he had a microchip. He wasn’t. He’s a very lucky dog to wind up in front of my door. it must have been fate.

I received a phone call the next morning. His family was ecstatic to know he was okay. Rocco’s mom was in intensive care, and is still as I write this; but I’m told she is improving. They were able to tell her that night that Rocco was safe. Thank you Officer Lee! Rocco’s Aunt came and picked him up within thirty minutes of calling. She had also been injured but had been released early that morning. You’ve never seen such a happy Beagle! All the staff at the Animal Defense League cried when Rocco went home. We see so many happy endings, but this one really hit home.

I have learned a lot from this experience, and I hope you can take something away from Rocco’s story. Most importantly, microchip ALL of your animals and keep the information current. You can never foresee your animal getting lost. (Rocco actually has a collar he “always” wears, he just happened to not to be wearing in that day.) Please make sure your dog ALWAYS wears a collar with current tags. If Rocco had been micro-chipped, I could have called the emergency contact person and got him home much sooner.

Contain your dogs in the car, using either a crate or a doggy seat belt. We are not sure if Rocco was ejected during the accident. Luckily Rocco wasn’t seriously injured, but he is the exception, rather then the rule. The officers and EMTs tried to catch him but he was too freaked out. They had to concentrate on saving his Mom and Aunt. If he had been in a seat belt, those officers could have helped get him somewhere safe. He is very fortunate not to have been hit by a car while he was blindly running through the neighborhood.

Rocco’s story gave me and my coworkers a huge reality check. I actually have to hold back tears as I write this. I have to admit, my dog Poppins usually sits in my front seat without a seat belt. My puppies are always in the back inside crates, but Poppins isn’t because she’s so well-behaved. Needless to say, she’ll NEVER ride in my car again unless she’s in the back seat wearing her seat belt. I hope PetSmart sells out of doggy seat belts after this story’s debut. Also, I hope everyone runs out and buys tags and gets their dogs micro-chipped right away.

Cyr’s story is long,  but I posted in its entirety because the information is so important it’s imperative to read the full article.  All our dogs are microchipped and have Together Tags, the most reliable dog and cat ID and recovery service from the trusted creators of Dogster and Catster.

No, I do not receive any money from this product, I really think the tags are great. The bottom line, if there is a product or service out there that can put the odds in your favor to help ensure the safe return of a beloved pet isn’t it worth buying?

* Tinker Bell wearing her Together Tag

If you’ve ever lost a dog you know how devastating it is. This story  proves no matter how much time has passed there’s always hope for a happy ending.

SYDNEY – Nine years after vanishing from outside her Australian family’s home, Muffy the dog was found alive and well this month in another backyard – 1,200 miles away – officials said Thursday.

Inspectors with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were investigating a possible animal cruelty case at a home in the southern city of Melbourne two weeks ago when they found the fluffy white mutt sleeping outside on a scrap of cardboard, Victoria state RSPCA spokesman Tim Pilgrim said.

A microchip in Muffy’s neck identified her owners, and, after a few days of searching for a current phone number, officials tracked down Natalie Lampard, who hadn’t seen Muffy since the pooch disappeared from her backyard in the eastern city of Brisbane nine years ago.

“When the RSPCA described her, I told them her name; I knew immediately it was our Muffy,” Lampard said. “It was totally out of the blue – after nine years, I thought she was long gone.”

The owners of the Melbourne house where Muffy was discovered said they found the dog about a year ago wandering along a street, Pilgrim said. But where had Muffy spent the previous eight years? And how did she get all the way to Melbourne – about 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) from Brisbane?

“Nobody knows,” Pilgrim said. “The mystery continues for old Muffy.”

Muffy is being treated by the RSPCA for a severe allergic reaction to fleas, shortly she should be well enough to be flown back home. What a reunion that’s going to be.

* Photo courtesy AP Associated Press

There’s nothing better than a happy reunion story, this one definitely fits the bill. A dog that got lost after Hurricane Ike has been wandering around for 10 months, until last week when the family received the call they’ve been waiting for.

It all started when the Bauer’s fence was blown down during the hurricane, they took their two dogs to the Pet Palace to keep them safe while waiting for repairs to be done.

“We ended up getting a call at 10 a.m. saying the dogs were gone. Both of ‘em,” said Joe Bauer.

The owners of the Pet Palace tell 11 News the two dogs dislocated a metal guillotine-style doggy door, worked their way through the initial set of gates of their outside run, then destroyed a section of chain link gate in the facility’s inner yard. They escaped through a 4- to 6-foot iron fence at the perimeter of the Pet Palace property.

They found Hank that same day wandering in a wooded area behind the boarding kennel, but Daizy was gone.

Last week, the family received the news they had been waiting for. Two of the Bauers’ friends said they were positive they’d seen Daizy wandering in a wooded area along a power line easement.

Last Thursday night, Kathy made the trip with them. Neighbors reported seeing the dog emerge late at night from the wooded area through a break in a fence at the end of a cul-de-sac. Neighbors had become accustomed to leaving food out for her.

This time, Kathy called to Daizy and gave their familiar family whistle. The dog bolted right toward her.

“She sat and lifted her paw for a handshake like she always would. Then she started whimpering,” said Kathy, who admitted she was whimpering a bit, too.

“I was in the middle of the street at 11:45 at night crying and thanking the Lord. It was a wonderful, wonderful reunion.”

Thank you to Tony for barking this story to me.

* Photo from the Bauer family courtesy Khou.com

Catching a Duke is easy, open the doors to your bus and let him in.  A city bus driver in Calgary, Alberta was driving her route when she spotted a dog surrounded by coyotes.

Dawn Hagel said she was driving Tuesday when she spotted the 16-month-old Australian cattle dog cringing beneath a parked pickup truck at the side of the road and two coyotes circling it.

Hagel, who owns two dogs herself, told the Calgary Sun she pulled alongside and opened the door.

“He was in the bus in a heartbeat — he knew it was a much better fate,” she said. “That dog was breakfast.”

The dog was bleeding from two bite marks on its rear right leg, and passengers comforted it. Its owner, Hugh Magill, was tracked down by tags on its collar, the Sun said.

Duke’s owner was found by the tags on his collar.  His owner said he had been walking him without a leash when the dog spotted a coyote and bolted. He searched and called for him to no avail, eventually going home.

Kudos to Dawn Hagel for stopping to help a dog in need. Who says buses are never on time?  I think this one had perfect timing.

*ADOPTABLE: Bandit is an adorable one-year-old who needs a forever home, he is being fostered in Chandler, AZ.

In case you haven’t read about it on Dogster Site News, today is the end of National Pet ID Week and the last day to save $3 when you order the Together Tag. Every pup on the planet should know by now that’s Dogster’s great new pet ID and recovery service.

April 18 – 24 is National Pet ID Week, and we’re barking all about it over here on Dogster. We love our community of pooches (as do you) and are determined to make sure that we don’t let one single pup go unprotected. One in three pets will get lost in their lifetime and sadly, most of these dogs and cats do not find their way back home. You can reduce the chances of losing your dog by preparing for the worst today. The steps are simple, quick and will save you from unnecessary heartbreak should your dog ever go lost or missing in the future.

Grab your owner and run on over to Dogster Site News to find out how to order the Together Tag and get a $3 discount. Don’t wait until it’s too late, act now.

* Tinker Bell Forever is stylin with her new tag, don’t you wanna be stylin too?

In Snowville, UT a group of dog lovers came together to help find a dog who went missing after being in a car wreck that killed his owner.

Two weeks earlier Joyce Moore of Kelso, WA was killed when her car rolled over on Interstate 84. Neo, a Siberian Husky, had watched as rescue crews worked on his owner but took off when someone approached him.

Volunteers went door to door telling ranchers and farmworkers about Neo. One estimated she had spent 60 hours “networking for Neo.”

On Thursday, a man at a ranch the team had already visited waved a searcher down, saying a dog had been found in a shed. He said he backed out quickly when the dog growled, latching the door.

Volunteers quickly notified Joyce Moore’s sister, Deborah Moore, also of Kelso. A volunteer was going to take care of the dog until Deborah Moore could pick him up.

“There’s so much riding on Deb retrieving Neo, emotionally speaking,” family friend Barbara Teasdale told the Longview (Wash.) Daily News. “This is a piece of Joyce coming home.”

I’m so glad Neo was found safe and the family will get a little piece of Joyce back. A big thank you goes out to all the volunteers who helped make this happen.

*ADOPTABLE: Wakita is a gorgeous older boy who needs to be rehomed, he resides in MN.