Scott Allin and his dachshund mix, Opie.
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It’s been four years, but we’d still call it a win for microchip technology. It helped reunite an Indiana man with the dog he lost four years ago and thought he’d never see again.
Now Scott Allin is celebrating their reunion.
“I’m happy that he’s still alive,” Allin said. “I thought the coyotes got him.”
Last week, the Michiana Humane Society, 20 miles away in Michigan City, called Allin to say his 7- or 8-year-old dachshund mix, Opie, had been brought in as a stray.
A local resident had taken in Opie as a stray, and waited a few days to see if he could find the dog’s owner before turning him in, Johanna Humbert, executive director of the Michiana Humane Society, told the South Bend Tribune.
When shelter staff scanned Opie for a chip, Allin’s contact info popped right up.
In a few minutes, Opie was answering to his old name, and he soon greeted Allin as his long-lost friend, Humbert said.
“I think as much as the owner was shocked the dog had reappeared, the dog was probably surprised the owner had reappeared,” she said. “It took both of them a few minutes to sort of warm back up to each other.’’
Where Opie has been all these years is not clear, but Humbert and Allin believe he appeared well cared for. He had last seen open running about his open, rural property. He was 3 or 4 years old at the time. Allin searched for the dog and called area shelters but never found a trace.
More than a year later, though, he received a call from the LaPorte County Small Animal Shelter saying Opie had been found. But when Allin went to the shelter, he found a different dog wearing Opie’s collar.
It was perplexing, but did renew Allin’s hope that Opie might be alive.
For now, Allin’s only plan is to keep an eye on his long-lost friend!
Humbert said the reunion shows why it’s so important to have pets microchipped.
‘‘A microchip isn’t removed,” she said. “It’s always there.’’
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