Safely Home: In Praise Of PetLink’s Priceless Advice

I had to fly to Atlanta, GA to attend a tour of a chemical manufacturer and then attend a round table meeting. While I was 800 miles away – 🙁 – I left my boy, Flash, a beautiful Bassett, with my sister and nieces who live about 40 miles away from me. The area where my sister lives is surrounded by woods and freeways, while my young hound has lived in the city for the whole of his year-and-a-half existence. He loves the woods but, even more than that, Flash loves me, his owner. We have quite a bond that most of you pet-owning readers will share.

The second day of my business trip I was in a ‘power meeting’ where, naturally, I turned the ringer off on my phone. Later, I saw that I had missed calls from my sister. When I called her, I immediately knew there was something wrong. In tears, my sister recounted to me how she had unhooked Flash from his leash, turned her head for a minute while answering a phone call and, before she knew it, he wasn’t anywhere to be found! She expressed this story to me in tears. She told me that, the night before, Flash was going though some separation anxiety and kept going up and down the stairs to the door, looking for me. When she said this, I realized that Flash had got loose trying to find me.

At that moment, when I realized Flash was lost, I felt my heart fall into the pit of my stomach. I was shaking and very scared for my beloved pup. The temperature had been in the 20s to low 30s and my fear was that Flash was lost in the woods freezing his little tail off. I don’t have children but my concern was so great you wouldn’t know it since I feared for my lost dog as if he were a son.

My sister had been frantically looking for Flash all over the area surrounding her house but with no luck. My office had pitched in and was assembling a search party to trek out 40 miles to look for him. Even the police department was informed and was very helpful.

I had contacted PetLink to let them know about Flash being lost and, I have to say, that I was almost in tears until I called them. The PetLink representative was very kind, thoughtful and helpful. He comforted me by letting me know about the percentage of pets that are microchipped returning to their owners.

I must also say that it was the PetLink rep’s advice, which I forwarded to my sister, that got Flash reunited with me. As instructed, I told my sister to put some food out near where Flash disappeared and to keep an eye on that spot. Within a half hour of my giving my sister that advice, Flash came out of the woods near her apartment and made a beeline straight for the food.

I want to say again that it was the guidance and comfort shared by the PetLink rep that helped me think clearly. He gave pure, winning, indeed, priceless, advice! Talking to him quashed my fears, he gave me the rundown on how microchipping works and his calm, positive demeanor and solid counsel helped save the day!