Miracles do happen!! (a news story)

[gemini9961]

Here is the story.

What a wonderful Christmas present like the owner said. This is a fine example of why micro-chipping can save or bring your beloved pet back to you.

[moosmom]

Wow!! Another story that proves microchipping does work.
What a terrific Christmas present!

[Daisy and Delilah]

WOW!!! What an amazing story!! No better Christmas present could ever be found.

[lvpets2002]

Aweee how so sweet & a great happy ending.. I know Micro Chips are the best..

[ramanth]

What a wonderful story!!

I have been meaning to get Kia and Chipper chipped.

[lizbud]

You won't believe this, but I just finished reading this story myself.I was
also thinking, Wow, a real Christmas miracle. I love the dog's name.

Sam I Am

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A fetching finish for a 2-year mystery
--------------------

Dog lost in Florida turns up in Illinois

By Charles Sheehan
Tribune staff reporter

December 15, 2006

Alice Baines could not find him on the block. She could not find him
near the dock. She could not find him here nor there. She could not find
him anywhere.

But two years after a hurricane blew down a back-yard fence in Florida
and set free a golden retriever named Sam-I-Am, the wayward pooch was
found in McHenry County.

In the most unlikely of reunions Thursday night, Sam-I-Am ran across
the tiled floor at O'Hare International Airport and rested his head on
the arm of owner Baines, who flew to Chicago from her home in Tampa to
retrieve him.

"I can't believe it," she said. "This kind of thing doesn't happen."

Veterinarians in McHenry County were stunned as well when they
discovered a microchip in the scruff of the dog's neck that placed his home
more than 1,200 miles to the southeast.

"I've never seen anything like it," said McHenry County animal control
officer Sean Graff.

`Have you got him?'

On Thursday night, Brett Baines, 9, waited in Florida for the return of
his canine pal. The boy last saw the dog in 2004 after the hurricane
ripped up a fence outside the family's home.

"He is so excited, I have 10 messages on my phone," Baines said. "Each
one says, `Have you got him? Have you got him? Have you got him?'"

Just how Sam-I-Am made the journey from Tampa to Johnsburg, a small
town on Pistakee Lake in McHenry County, may never be known.

A resident found the 5-year-old dog wandering along Circle Court
earlier this week and took him to the McHenry County animal shelter.

Though few animal owners take advantage of relatively cheap microchip
technology, veterinarians in McHenry County do a routine scan of all
dogs brought to the shelter, said Dr. Edin Mehanovic, the animal control
administrator.

McHenry County officials called the veterinarian who had placed the
chip in Sam-I-Am when he was a puppy, whose office Baines said she had
been calling on and off since the hurricane.

"I just kept checking and yesterday around 5 o'clock, they called and
said, `We got a call from Illinois and we have a chip match,'" Baines
said. "They said, `It's him, it's got to be him.'"

Baines booked the first flight to what she called "the Land of Oprah."

For all the mileage, it appears that Sam-I-Am is no worse for the wear.

"The dog is in very good shape," Mehanovic said. "I can't see how the
dog could walk that far."

Microchip costs $40

Mehanovic and Graff said Sam-I-Am is a poster pup for microchip
technology. Implanting a chip costs about $40, Graff said.

"This is a perfect example of what a microchip can do," Graff said. "A
dog can lose a collar or someone can take it off, but the microchip
never comes off."

Given the cost of last-minute airfare from Florida to Illinois,
Mehanovic said the county's $45 claiming fee for stray dogs was waived.

"This has been the longest day," Baines said. "Everyone has been so
nice here, and I don't care how Sam got here. I've got what I've come for
and now I'm going home.

"Merry Christmas to everybody."

----------

[pitc9]

YIPPEEE!!
Oh what a wonderful story!!

Both of mine are chipped and every animal I ever own will be also!

[cyber-sibes]

Wow, what a terrific story! That made my day!

[cassiesmom]

The Tribune has had so much bad news lately - news about the recent snowstorms, government mishaps, transportation accidents - it is nice to see something good!

[K9soul]

What a beautiful story. That reminds me I need to get Raven chipped, I'll ask about that when she goes in for her rabies

[chocolatepuppy]

That is such a happy ending. Layla is the first furkid I've ever had microchipped.
Stories like this make me glad I did.

[elizabethann]

It's a Christmas miracle!!!

[labmomma]

Great story with the best possible ending. I've had both of my Boyz chipped and tatooed. They love people so much and going for rides they'd be easy to lose under the wrong circumstances.
Labmomma X 2