Kita (my geriatric husky), had been a special buddy to me for 14 years. I had seen him through a Grand Mal seizure lasting over 2 hours which made him crippled up for days, and unable to recognize me for over a week. He was also the victim of anaplasmosis that gave him a fever of 106 and more lameness. And as he aged, bad eyesight, poor hearing, arthritis and Alzheimer’s. Always by my side, he has been my pal.

On October 17th, the day before my birthday, Kita was startled by gunfire from the neighbor’s house, and ran away in a frantic panic. I started out looking for him well into the dark, as a cold miserable rain began to fall. He simply vanished without a trace. Days went by that turned into weeks.

Every shelter, animal control, vet and highway maintenance office was notified in the area. Yet no one heard or saw him. What made it even more difficult to track him was that he had no identification on him except for his collar and his bell. Being he never left the yard in his old state, I figured he did not need his tags. It bothered me beyond belief worrying for his safety, and of course never getting to say goodbye to him before we parted ways.

Then November 22nd, I received a call at 9:30pm from a gentleman who said he actually had picked up my dog, brought him home, then brought him to a shelter, but it had been weeks ago. I called the shelter with hope against hope that he would still be there, and sure enough! His travels had taken him from North Branch to the St. Paul Humane Society which is close to 70 miles away!

I was reunited with my buddy for the most joyous of Thanksgivings! I was extremely lucky to have found Kita. With no I.D., posters with his photos were the only thing that reunited us. I wanted to share Kita’s story with everyone to highlight the importance of pet I.D.’s. Avoid similar heartbreak, microchip and tag your pets today!