MARION COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – Warning: You may want to grab a tissue before reading this story because this dog’s tale takes several plot twists and is touching hearts along the way.
This is a story of survival.
Marion County Animal Service says a dog recently rescued from cruel conditions has been reunited with his former family after 12 years. That’s equivalent to 84 years in a dog’s life.
On February 1, officers from Marion County Animal Services seized 53 dogs from “deplorable conditions” at a home in Ocala. Each dog was scanned for microchips before they were transported to the county’s shelter.
While the dogs were going through medical assessments and hygiene treats, animal services staff began researching the microchip readings they with hopes of finding some of the pet owners.
One of the microchip readings connected them to Pasco County Animal Services (PCAS).
After searching through the database, Pasco County officials say handwritten records from 2012 matched the serial number given to them by the MCAS team.
According to the release, PCAS provided contact information for a volunteer who fostered the dog for a month 12 years ago.
After getting in touch with the volunteer Jeanna Rivera, she informed them that a young family adopted the dog and named him Beau but says she lost contact with them over the years.
Rivera then told the MCAS team to have Beau ready for pickup. Without hesitation, she and her granddaughter drove to Marion County to retrieve Beau.
“Within a few hours, Beau was brought out to one of the animal center’s play yards to be reunited with the former foster volunteer that had cared for him more than a decade ago,” shared MCAS.
Microchipping
MCAS says Beau was able to find a loving home with his former foster family due to Pasco County Animal Services’ commitment to microchipping 12 years ago.
Microchipping is an important method used to help owners find their pets. MCAS does microchipping for $15 at the county’s animal center located at 5701 Southeast 66th Street in Ocala.
“This non-removable form of identification is about the size of a grain of rice and contains a personal identification number that stays with the pet forever,” said MCAS.
The identification number links your pets to an accessible and searchable database. MCAS says a study by done by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty shows microchipped pets are 20 times more likely to be reunited with their families than those without microchips.
If you’d like to schedule a microchipping appointment, you can call Marion County Animal Services or email AnimalServices@MarionFl.org.
Update on the remaining rescues
MCAS says it has been able to find adoptive or placements for a majority of the 53 dogs rescued in February.
“The team at Marion County Animal Services has been on a mission to find the rest of the dogs from the cruelty case new homes as soon as they are rehabilitated,” shared MCAS in a Facebook post.
MCAS is still looking for new homes for 17 of the rescued dogs as well as more than 240 other pets in their care.
“While 9 of the 17 dogs still in the care of Marion County Animal Services from this cruelty case have been rehabilitated to an adoptable status, we still have many that are in need of enrichment and socialization necessary to ready them for adoption,” said MCAS.
|SEE MORE ADOPTABLE DOGS: Project Pawsitivity
If you’re interested in adopting, fostering or volunteering, you can call MCAS at 352-671-8700 or click here to learn how you can help.