A dog lost for four years has been reunited with her original family after being surrendered to an SPCA on the South Shore. Pierre Bourbonnais, the executive director of SPCA Roussillon in Delson, recounted that on Sept. 9, the team at the shelter scanned Laura for a microchip, as is standard procedure for surrenders. To the team’s surprise, the identification information embedded in the microchip was registered to a completely different family and address. After contacting the family listed on the microchip, the team learned that they had lost Laura four years earlier and had been looking for her. “They were kind of in shock because after four years, you’re not expecting a call about your lost dog. So, they were really happy and we were happy, and so they came the same day,” Bourbonnais said. “There was the daughter, the mother, the grandmother. They all came, and when the dog saw them, the dog was really happy. You could tell it was their dog. Like, it was clear.” With her tail wagging, Laura approached her original family without hesitation. According to Bourbonnais, the family that surrendered Laura to the shelter had found her four years earlier and given her a home until they could no longer take care of her. Bourbonnais noted that this is a perfect example of why it is crucial for people to identify their pets, given that without her microchip, Laura may never have been reunited with her family. “Never give up. You know, sometimes you might think, ‘Oh, it’s a year, it’s been six months or whatever.’ You never know. There’s always hope,” he said. According to Bourbonnais, microchipping is becoming more popular. He added that the SPCA offers the service at a low cost every second Saturday. Those interested must first register on the SPCA website and make the payment. The procedure itself takes about five minutes. “You could go to any vet clinic also to get it microchipped. It’s important to make sure that the registration is done. This is something that is a permanent identification. It’s done once and it lasts the life of the animal.” With files from CTV News’ Rob Laurie.
