Ivan Turgenev (1818–1883)
A House of Gentlefolk

TUCSON, AZ (USA) — The Arizona Daily Star brings us news of an unbelievable event: after a year and a half, "Shadow" the dog has come home.  But perhaps more unbelievable than that is the news that apparently, she had never strayed more than two miles away.

While Alida and Bob Cromwell spent months searching animal shelters for their dog, running newspaper ads and touring the county Animal Control Center every week, the lost Labrador mix may never have actually left the neighborhood.  Last week, Shadow was found at a nearby East Side trailer park where she had taken up temporary residence.  The locals had been leaving food but were unable to capture the stray for weeks.

Finally, residents alerted Marc Hammond, supervisor at the Pima County Animal Control Center and owner of Animal Experts, a humane animal trapping service.  On Friday night, Mar. 8, a trap was set up at the location of the sightings.  The next morning, Mr. Hammond found a stray dog asleep inside the trap.

The happy conclusion came swiftly.  Not only was the dog identified by a Pima County license tag on her collar, but in addition, she was wearing a Home Again Companion Animal Retrieval System tag which meant that she was also identified by a subcutaneous microchip implanted in her back.  The latest in ID technology, microchipping has led to the safe retrieval of lost pets from hundreds of miles away.  Apparently, the technology works just as well in your own back yard.