Lost and Found – a Story of Perseverance, Commitment to Family and Love. 10/03/2021 By Kerry S Each year, approximately 10 million pets are lost in the United States, and millions of those end up in the nation’s animal shelters. Tragically, only 15 percent of dogs and 2 percent of cats in shelters without ID tags or microchips are reunited with their owners. Sanjay was one such dog. We bring many of our Pet Haven Pets into foster care from shelters across Minnesota. Frequently these are dogs and cats picked up as stray, and the owners could not be found. Most are not microchipped or have updated identification. Many of these shelters do not have adoption programs, or the pet’s health requires attention they cannot give. So once these pets pass the necessary stray hold, these pets are offered up for Rescue placement. It is heartbreaking to think someone has lost a beloved pet, and especially hard when you know they were well-loved and missed. We are happy that we can remove these pets from the shelters and offer them a safe, loving foster home until adoption but what we really want is for pets that have families is to stay with them. This was the case of Sanjay, a sweet 16-year-old Shitzu mix who went missing on August 13th. He was found, most likely near his home, by a concerned person after being let out for a quick potty break. Unfortunately, he was brought to a shelter 2 hours away from where Sanjay lived. The shelter knew someone would be looking for this pup so they kept him longer than they would normally. He came to the shelter recently groomed, clean, and well-fed but had no identification. After a month of waiting for someone to show up, the shelter decided it was time to place him into rescue. We saw this little 16-year-old man and had to help him. We found the perfect foster home for him where he would be loved, cared for, and have a safe, loving warm place to live. His foster mom loved him very much. Little did we know his owners were out there searching and not giving up looking. Sanjay’s family was desperate and did everything right to find him. They called vet clinics, shelters, put up fliers, and were working with a group called The Retrievers that helps find lost pups. No one ever thought a 16-year-old pup would be two hours south of his home. A picture of Sanjay was seen in a post our intake manager did on dogs at shelters “waiting in the wings” for foster placement. This was a post to encourage people to sign up to foster and help us save more dogs. One of the Retriever Volunteers saw the post and just knew it was Sanjay. We were notified that the dog we knew as Boba was most likely Sanjay and after checking vet records we confirmed it was him! After 47 days of being missing, Sanjay was reunited with his loving family. Tears were shed all around, and these were not tears of sadness but of joy for such a happy ending! We are so happy for this family and to be a part of such a joyful reunion. We do not often get to be a part of this side of rescue. We are so grateful we were able to help Sanjay find his HOME. Sanjya and family with Lindsay from The Retrievers When Sanjay got home he went right to his bowl and with lots of tail wags when he saw his brother! Thank you to everyone who helped along the way! Sanjay’s foster Janel and Pet Haven’s Executive Director Kerry At Pet Haven, we microchip ALL the pets that come to us. This is included in our adoption fee. We believe microchipping is so important and critical to finding a lost pet. We register all microchips to the adoptive family AND stay on as a secondary contact in case the adopter cannot be found. We do this to ensure a Pet Haven pet will always find home. If your pets are not microchipped please consider doing this as soon as possible. The American Veterinary Medical Association endorses microchipping as the only sure way to get a lost pet home. Pets are family. Keep them safe! If you would like to help us with our microchipping program please consider a donation. You will help keep families together!
