This past Saturday a long-awaited reunion took place in Golden, Colorado as Lloyd Goldston and his two grown kids drove 18 hours straight from Tennessee to the Foothills animal shelter where their beloved Boxer, Boozer, was.
Nine Long Years – that’s how long this family had been waiting and hoping to see Boozer again.
Boozer was an eight-month old puppy when he disappeared from the Goldston’s backyard. Boozer hasn’t been seen since that time nine years ago. Their search was limited because the family was in the process of moving at the time.
Boozer, now 10 years old, was surrendered to the shelter on August 2nd. Boozer’s last known owner moved out of state from Denver and could no longer take care of him.
It was there Boozer was scanned for a microchip as most shelters do and discovered another family was searching for this dog. The Goldston family never forgot about Boozer and always considered him part of their family.
A pet microchip is no bigger than a grain of rice or more costly than a month’s supply of pet food. A pet microchip and enrollment in a pet recovery database brings lost pets home and provides peace of mind that your beloved companion will never wander unknown. Microchipping substantially increases the likelihood of a pet returning home by offering secure, reliable, unique and permanent identification.
“After all this time to see him again; he was just a puppy and now he’s this old guy, both of us have gray hair now,” Goldstone said. “It’s like getting a family member back. It’s that level of emotion.”
“He’s beautiful. Yes you are. Yes you are,” Goldston said to Boozer as they hugged. “Hey Boozer! Welcome back, buddy.”
“I cried, especially when they sent the first picture of him,” Goldstone said. “[My daughter] cried. My wife cried. All the kids were excited and the immediate question was ‘Are we gonna get him? Are we gonna get him?’”
“I’m happy,” Goldston said. “He was never gone. He was always in our hearts. We never forgot him.”
According to PetFinder.com: The statistics indicate that missing pets rarely make it home:
• The American Humane Association estimates over 10 million dogs and cats are lost or stolen in the U.S. every year.
• One in three pets will become lost at some point during their life.
Registered microchips give lost pets the best chance of returning home.
A study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, including 53 animal shelters across the U.S., confirmed the high rate of return of microchipped dogs and cats to their families, and the importance of microchip registration. From the study:
• Only about 22 percent of lost dogs that entered the animal shelters were reunited with their families. However, the return-to-owner rate for microchipped dogs was over 52 percent (a 238 percent increase).
• Less than 2 percent of lost cats that entered the animal shelters were reunited with their families. The return-to-owner rate for microchipped cats was dramatically higher at over 38 percent (more than 2000 percent better).
• Only 58 percent of the microchipped animals’ microchips had been registered in a database with their pet parent’s contact information.
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So happy to hear this.
A license is also extremely as effective as a microchip.
That dog should’ve been checked years ago for a microchip! If I find a dog, I always get him or her checked to see if he/she belongs to someone. They wouldn’t have had to wait nine long years for the reunion. Better late than never.
That looks like a cool place to visit!
The dog didn’t seem that happy to see them. I’m not sure if he remembered them or not. He was only a puppy. The jury is still out on this one for me.