Tank’s(Ki’s) Incredible Adventure

by Kathy Crandell on March 23, 2013

in Shiba Tails

This is the story of Tank who embarked on an adventure that almost didn’t get him back home.

Here is his story:
I first met Tank at the end of March when he was posted on the Miami Dade Animal-Services(MDAS) daily email. He was in a stray hold for 10 days so there was nothing I could do before that time was up. This was so the owner had a chance to find him and claim him. After the stray hold each dog has about 5 days to be adopted and depending on how many dogs are there the end could be soon after that time. His stray hold was up at the beginning of the week so I watched for him to be adopted. Each day there was Tank staring at me with those “please save me” eyes. On Saturday of that week I had to meet with a dog owner and take her and her Shiba(Joey) to a foster home about an hour the other direction from the shelter. We were supposed to go at noon but Joeys spa appointment wasn’t going to finish until 330. With that in mind I decided to head to MDAS to check out Tank. He was listed as still intact so I would have to wait until the next week to take him home. The shelter is about 1/2 hr from me and I got there plenty of time I thought to look at him and still go where I needed to be later on. It took me a LOT longer than I thought but I did taking him home as he was already neutered. I noticed he had some eye discharge so I made him an vet appointment for the following morning as I was then taking him to the fosters in the afternoon.

Tank was an unusual Shiba as he weighed in at 43.3 lbs according to the shelter. Oh and he was not a very tall Shiba either! Tank and I headed out to the vet bright and early Sunday morning. As we got to the vet’s office we signed in and sat down. The office had a board with Lost/Found microchipped dogs and cats so I glanced at the board. There in the middle of the board was a dog that looked like a Shiba. I got up and went and looked the picture of the dog. Then I looked at Tank and then back at the picture. Read that the Shiba was lost in Miami-Dade County and he weighed 50lbs. Now there were not too many 50lb Shibas around that I knew of. I took the picture down and asked the girls at the desk if the Tank looked like the picture. They said they thought it could be, then I asked the next guy in the door that had his own dog.. “Does this look like this dog to you?” He agreed also. We were called to the back and they tried to find the microchip that he was supposed to have before the shelter put theirs in. No luck on the microchip at all even with 2 different scanners! I finished what I needed to do with the vet and they took him away to trim his nails and I went to call the microchip company. I got the phone number and called the registered owners. They were ecstatic to hear that I might have their dog. Since they were located only about 15 minutes from where I was I told them I would bring the dog to them to see if it was their dog. As I pulled up to their location they were outside waiting and Tank was looking out the window wagging his tail. As I let Tank out of the car you could tell on their faces that this was their dog! Hugs and licks about commenced and all again was right in Tanks world. I explained to them that they he probably would have been euthanized the next day had I not gone to pick him up.

Tank was one lucky dog that everything fell into place perfectly that he was able to be returned to his owners. The owners had been to MDAS looking for him but he hadn’t been picked up yet. They left the flyer which had his picture and microchip number on it.

Owners please learn from this. Don’t depend on the microchip to bring your dog home. Keep checking the local shelters EVERY day. Go to the shelters. They are too overwhelmed to worry about one dog even if that dog is the center of your universe. Put up flyers. Have the microchip tested EVERY time you go to the vet. One more reason to not let your dog get overweight. That other microchip is probably from when he was a puppy and is buried in all his bulkiness.

Tank is now enjoying the life he deserves instead of being a statistic! Oh and by the way Tank’s real name is Ki!

Comments on this entry are closed.

cathy August 22, 2013 at 9:06 PM

that is such an awesome story .. perfect example of being in the right place at the right time.. so lucky for ki.. and so wonderful of you!

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