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Laveen, AZ (KPHO/KTVK) — With help from a microchip, a dog found in Laveen was reunited with her owner after five years Friday.
Philip Fecteau, an animal care technician with Maricopa County Animal Care and Control, had given up all hope years ago after posting flyers and to social media that his black Labrador, Chanel, was lost.
“After two years, I’ve kind of just given up,” Fecteau said. “Something bad happened to her, and no one ever found the chip.”
So you can imagine his surprise with Fecteau got a call Friday night asking him if he was missing a black Labrador.
He was in the middle of dinner with his family, and they ditched their food and piled in the car to pick up their lost friend.
“I’m just happy to get her back and my children love that she’s also back as well,” Fecteau said.
Animal workers were able to find Fecteau through information on a microchip on Chanel, who was found wandering around in a park in Laveen.
This isn’t the first time Fecteau has been reunited with a dog through a microchip. There was a shepherd puppy that was stolen from his backyard 10 months before he recognized the same shepherd arrive at the shelter.
“This isn’t the first time a chip has come into play when we get animals back,” Fecteau said.
Fecteau recognized the pup and was able to prove it was his through the microchip.
Maricopa County Animal Care and Control stresses the importance of microchipping and maintaining and updating that information.
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