The right tool reunites lost pug with family

Even the most thoughtful gifts can go unused, but not always. When community service officer Sean Bus of the River Forest Police Department in Illinois received a free microchip scanner during a training session, he brought it with him in his squad car the next day.

Each department represented at the session received a scanner in part because the training, put on by Best Friends and sponsored by the Cook County Animal Control Department and the Chicagoland Humane Coalition, covered the importance of officers getting lost pets back home rather than bringing them to the shelter.

Staff from the Best Friends national shelter support team travel around the country giving training workshops to animal services officers, and a key component is helping lost pets return home instead of impounding them at shelters.

Microchips and scanners save pets’ lives

More than half of pets entering shelters each year arrive as “strays.” But if more officers in the field can find out where pets belong and bring them home, those numbers could be significantly reduced.

[Long-lost dog reunited with family after six years]

Less than 24 hours after Sean left the training event, he was out on patrol and received a report of a pug wandering around on his own. He pulled out the new microchip scanner to run it over the friendly pup, and … beep. A number popped up on the display screen.

Using that information, Sean was able to contact the dog’s family and reunite them with their pug, whose name is Wilson. The family’s best guess is that someone left the gate open and Wilson decided to stroll out for a walk. That’s how Wilson became the first of many lost pets who will skip the shelter altogether, thanks to an officer having the right tool for the job and the willingness to use it.