A routine microchip scan at Wakulla County Animal Services turned extraordinary this week, reuniting Ace – a bulldog missing for three years from Tallahassee – with his owner, now in Houston.
Ace turned up in Sopchoppy last week. Walter Class, the director of Wakulla County Animal Services, said a resident found him and called animal services to scan his microchip to see who he belonged to.
Animal Services returns pets to their owners using microchips three to four times a week, Class explained.
"It's very rare that that much time goes by," Class said of Ace's case. "Owners tend to move on or give up on being able to locate their animal ... (But) some never give up hope, and I tell people that there's always a chance that the dog will show up again."
When the shelter called the number linked to the chip, the woman – who wasn't identified – said she was shocked Ace had been found and desperately wanted him back. The woman explained that Ace went missing from her yard in Tallahassee along Ocala Road. Since his disappearance, she had moved to Houston.
A reporter left a message for Ace's owner but she didn't respond. Class said she decided to make her way back to Florida Aug. 5 to pick up Ace and take him back home with her, but it's a total mystery where he's been and how he's stayed alive all this time, Class said.
Sopchoppy, a town of fewer than 500, is about 35 miles from Ocala Road and separated by a swath of the Apalachicola National Forest.
Ace's story "really demonstrates the value" of having a microchip because "no animal can ever tell you where they belong or who they belong to."
"It's always good to get animals back to where they need to be and with an owner that really wants them," Class said. "It's a bright spot in our job."
Elena Barrera can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Lost dog 'Ace' returns after three years – thanks to microchip