Petlog ends 2½ year search for Sumo

Sumo, a Dogue de Bordeaux from Doncaster has recently been reunited with his family after being missing for over 2½ years. Sumo is just one of the many thousands of pets reunited with their owners, thanks to Petlog, the largest pet reunification service in the UK, which helps to safeguard over 3 million pets.

Sadly, thousands of pets go missing every year and many are not reunited with their owners as they do not have any form of identification. Sumo's remarkable and emotional story is just one of the many success stories where pets have been reunited because their owners have taken responsibility for their pet's safety and welfare by having a microchip painlessly inserted under the dog's skin.

Sumo was stolen in January 2005 along with two other dogs from Lisa Mills' kennel at her home in Doncaster. Lisa vividly remembers the distress that Sumo's disappearance caused: "I came home from work one day and Sumo was missing along with two of my other dogs and my horse trailer. I was absolutely heartbroken. It was like one of the family had been kidnapped. I was totally devastated but I managed to notify vets up and down the country, put up posters and place ads in the local papers and on TV. I followed up possible sightings and made sure the police and dog wardens were aware of my missing dogs."
Remarkably it wasn't until June this year that Sumo was discovered, several miles away in Rotherham, by a dog warden who scanned him to find out whether he was microchipped. Luckily for Sumo he was microchipped and could therefore be identified.

Continued Lisa; "It's brilliant being reunited with Sumo after 2½ years. It really has filled the space he left when he went missing. I am so pleased to hear that he was fit and well when found. If it wasn't for Petlog, Sumo could never have been identified and the dog warden wouldn't have known he'd been stolen. I only hope that the same happens with my other two dogs which I still miss terribly."

Said Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary; "This story comes just at the end of National Microchipping Month, when vets up and down the country have been holding special clinics aiming to raise awareness of how important it is to have your pet microchipped. This story really highlights why microchipping is the best method of permanent pet identification.  National Microchipping Month provided a great opportunity for pet owners to develop their understanding of the process involved and the services available to them and their pets."

Petlog understands just how devastating it can be for an owner to lose a pet and it is dedicated to encouraging owners to properly identify their pets, whether it's a dog, cat, rabbit, tortoise or even a horse, so that, when found, they can be reunited as quickly as possible.  Based in Buckinghamshire, Petlog is on hand 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to animal wardens, welfare centres, veterinary practices, rescue centres and local authorities, who can scan microchips found in missing pets and trace their owners through the Petlog database - a service dedicated to helping owners to find their lost pets.

Having a microchip implanted in your pet vastly increases a pet's chances of getting home, as if found it can be scanned and identified by its unique reference number and reunited rather than put in kennels or rehomed.

Pet owners have a legal requirement to ensure that their pet is under their control and this includes some form of proper identification.  Petlog provides a range of services for owners of microchipped pets; for further information, please visit www.petlog.org.uk or call 0870 6066 751.

Notes to Editors

• Petlog is the UK's largest pet reunification service and is owned and managed by the Kennel Club
• Petlog holds the details of over 3.7 million animals and their owners and every month around 40,000 animals are added to the database
• Last year 19,440 dogs were reunited with their owners through Petlog
• Last year 11,285 cats were reunited with their owners through Petlog
• Petlog manages and operates the 24/7 central reunification telephone service
• In 2006, the Petlog after care service line staff answered over 110,000 calls from vets, owners, animal wardens, animal welfare centres and police
• In 2006 the 24/7 central reunification line staff answered over 70,000 calls in relation to lost and found pets.

To submit your own re-unification story, please e-mail us at petlogadmin@thekennelclub.org.uk

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