When Ariel Wolf got a call informing her that her missing rescue dog had been found and taken to a nearby shelter, it was a huge relief.
However, when staff checked her dog’s microchip, it set off a series of events that left Wolf wondering if she would ever come home.
It’s been two years since Wolf’s beloved rescue dog Mochi died but the memory of the scraggly 5-year-old dog she paid a North Carolina shelter $75 for burns brighter than ever.
“She passed away in March of 2023 at what we estimate was close to 16 years old,” Wolf told Newsweek. “She loved sun bathing, cleaning microscopic crumbs off the floor and judging people.”
Not all of those memories are positive ones though, like the story from June 2021 that Wolf shared to TikTok under the handle @deviouspickles.
Dogs go missing every day. According to data compiled by Best Friends Animal Society, in 2024 2.8 million dogs and cats entered shelters as strays. Of this number, just 21 percent end up being successfully reunited with their owners.
Getting a pet microchipped is a great way of increasing the chances of a lost dog being reunited with their owner – but it’s not without its problems, as Wolf discovered that fateful day.
Already partially blind and mostly deaf at that stage, Mochi, who was 13, somehow escaped through a small hole in the backyard fence one June afternoon.
Panic ensued, with Wolf taking to the NextDoor app to ask if anyone had seen Mochi. To her relief, a neighbor on the next street over confirmed they had picked up Mochi and she had been taken to a nearby shelter.
According to Wolf, when she arrived at the shelter, staff conducted a physical exam Mochi before scanning her microchip. That’s when the problems began.
“They tried four different scanners all in front of me,” Wolf said. “To my horror they weren’t finding her microchip.”
When a full body scan failed to locate the microchip, Wolf realized to her horror that it must have “migrated” at some point. “It must have fallen out entirely at some point.” she said.
The problem was that the scan had uncovered another microchip, the one fitted by Mochi’s previous owner and, under the shelter’s rules, they had first refusal on taking Mochi.
Wolf found herself facing an unimaginable situation. “I’m hysterically crying at this point,” she said. “Because the dog I’ve spent the last 8 years loving, training and caring for, is now being offered to someone who possibly hasn’t seen them since 2011.”
Things took a further turn for the worse when Wolf was informed that, despite none of the numbers and addresses for Mochi’s previous owner yielding a response, they would have to keep her on hold for 72 hours while they waited for someone to come forward.
Though staff were apologetic, Wolf went along with the request. However, when she got in touch about bringing Mochi home 3 days later she was told they had sent a letter to the address linked to the other microchip. She would have to wait a further 10 days before taking Mochi home.
Wolf decided to take matters into her own hands. She reconnected with Mochi’s rescue and discovered, to her relief, they had been the ones who had her microchipped.
More importantly they were shocked and saddened to hear what was happening, so intervened quickly, speaking to staff on the phone to confirm their desire to relinquish ownership of Mochi. Then Wolf stepped in to legally adopt her dog for a second time.
Mochi would go on to live for two more years before passing away in the happiest of forever homes – but it could so easily have been different.
“Luckily it was the best case scenario and the microchip had been placed by the rescue folks who were willing to help us get her out of the shelter,” Wolf said.
“But that microchip could have been placed by the people who surrendered her back in 2011, and it wouldn’t have mattered that we had years of documentation of love, training, and extensive veterinary care, our local shelter would have offered whoever placed the microchip right of first refusal.”
Wolf shared Mochi’s story in the hope it will wake other dog owners up to the potential risks of not regularly checking microchips.
“Accidents and emergencies happen when we least expect and it only takes a second for a loved pet to get out of the house or yard,” she said. The time to be figuring out if your pet’s microchip is readable and has your current contact information shouldn’t be when your pet goes missing.”
The post Woman Thought Dog’s Microchip Would Reunite Them—Horror At What Scan Finds appeared first on Newsweek.
