It was a sad day in Denver, CO, when Justin Howard realized his dog, Sara Bella, who had been staying with her “Grandpa” in Kansas, slipped out the door and was gone. The Howard kids were devastated. Grandpa felt horrible. The family didn’t expect to see their sweet Sara Bella, a Queensland mix, again. “It was hard to take, especially for my kids, my two small kids,” Justin Howard said.
Several days later and 1,200 miles away, Tracy Mohr, manager at the Chico (California) Animal Shelter, took in a dog at the shelter from a transient who had come west from Kansas. The transient had hopped a train with a stray dog he found at a truck stop and realized he couldn’t properly care for the dog. The shelter scanned the dog, hoping against hope that she had been microchipped, and it was good news! The beautiful dog had a microchip! Mohr contacted the chip registry and discovered she belonged to the Howards in Denver.
Mohr called the Howards and told them he had their dog…in California. “Talk about a great relief,” Howard said. “It was just a good thing to hear she was alive and someone actually found her.”
Mohr put out a press release, asking for donations to help the shelter buy Sara Bella a plane ticket home. Within minutes, people were coming forward with their donations. $500 was raised to buy a new travel kennel and Sara Bella’s ticket and as soon as the weather cooperates, Sara Bella will be reunited with her family.