Microchipping makes for happy endings for a dog missing for three years, a cat and their humans

It’s saving cats and dogs!

Microchipping, that is.

Just ask the staff at Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley (ASCMV).

During one week in October, ASCMV staff got to make phone calls to a cat owner in Las Cruces, telling her that her cat, Djinn, had been found, and to dog owner Gloria Brown of El Paso, telling her that her beloved Yorkie, Aniken, had been found. Both pets were identified and returned to their owners because they had been microchipped.

“There’s nothing we love more than a happy ending for pets and their people, and an up-to-date microchip is the best shot a lost animal has at a happy ending,” said ASCMV Executive Director Clint Thacker.

 Thacker said he was “so proud of ASCMV staff member Laura Hennessee, who, with the help of a Good Samaritan, rescued a cat off the median on Interstate 70. She had to keep her wits about her, keep herself safe and make sure not to scare the cat into traffic,” he said.

Hennessee’s “courage and caring meant that not only did that cat get rescued, because it was chipped it got back to its person who had been looking for the cat for days, Thacker said.

The story of Brown and Aniken is equally remarkable and heartwarming.

Brown said the small dog disappeared from the fenced yard of her El Paso home more than three years ago. She thinks he was stolen. Brown, family members and friends searched everywhere for Aniken, including an online data search for missing pets and missing and found pets sites on social media.

Then on Oct. 2, ASCMV was “closing up shop at about 6 p.m. when someone came with two strays,” ASCMV grant writer Elaine Stachera Simon said.

“Staff member Alaska Smith was already working on an intake, so instead of asking him to hold the dogs, she helped this person too. One of the dogs (Aniken) was microchipped,” Simon said.

 ASCMV Office Manager Michelle Williams called Brown to report that her Yorkie was found.

Brown “was ecstatic,” Simon said. In talking to Brown, Williams realized that the dog had been missing since Sept. 2, 2018, Simon said.

When she received the happy news from ASCMV, “I couldn’t contain my emotions,” Brown said. “I just couldn’t believe it.”

The person who had rescued Aniken agreed to meet Brown halfway between El Paso and Las Cruces to return the dog. Brown was so overcome, she had to get a friend to drive her to the rendezvous.

Brown said Aniken was very dehydrated and “not in the best condition” when she saw him for the first time in more than three years.

“When I saw him, it didn’t look like him,” she said. “I never would have recognized him. When I … saw his little eyes, I knew it was him; I knew it was my baby. He heard his name, he jumped for joy. He was just so excited; he couldn’t contain himself.”

Aniken was recognized by his brothers and sisters (Brown has 11 dogs, all microchipped) as soon as he got home. He is eating, drinking a lot of water, his fur is growing back and he is “getting back to normal,” she said.

“The people in Las Cruces were so kind,” Brown said. “Microchipping is the best thing I ever could have done. Everybody needs to microchip their dogs.”

Brown said Aniken was with a female dog when he was found, and Brown thinks that dog helped Aniken survive. He’s almost 12 years old and doesn’t have good eyesight or hearing, she said.

The other dog, now named Oreo, wasn’t microchipped, and is now in a foster home waiting to be adopted.

“God is great,” Brown said, “and will compensate her with a family.”

“All of our staff members love animals, and it’s hard to see animals that you know belong to someone go unclaimed,” Thacker said. “The animal is scared and confused, and you know someone out there is missing their furry best friend. Microchips make happy endings possible.”

ASCMV, 3551 Bataan Memorial West, is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. To adopt an animal, check out available animals on the ASCMV website and make an appointment for a “social” during adoption hours: noon to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Lost and found animals are also posted on the website.

Contact ASCMV at 575-382-0018 and ASCMV@las-cruces.org.

Visit https://ascmv.org/ and facebook.com/ASCMV.