Shelter Workers Rescue Stray Dog, Not Prepared for What Microchip Reveals

Two veterinarian clinic employees stepped in to reunite a dog named Diva with her owner after they learned that the pup’s microchip had placed her thousands of miles away from home.

When a stray dog was brought into Oak Knoll Vet Clinic in Indiana, employees first checked for a microchip and luckily, she had one. They called the owners about the good news of finding Diva. However, the November 20 video posted by TikTok user @maggiethornberry48, explained it wasn’t that simple to reconnect them. As it turns out, the dog’s owner was living in an entirely different state.

Somehow, this dog traveled from Colorado and ended up at the Indiana vet clinic. The owners became emotional hearing that their dog was finally accounted for, especially since it had been over two months since they last saw her.

“It was just such a crazy story to think that their pup traveled across the country and had been found after two months!” Maggie Thornberry told Newsweek via TikTok. “When we called the owners on the phone, they were so shocked and started crying.”

With the vet office closing for the weekend, Thornberry offered to take Diva home to give the family time to come and get her. However, she thought about if she were in their shoes, she would hope someone would be kind enough to help connect her with her dogs. That’s when she decided to hop in her car with another vet clinic employee and meet the family halfway.

The two drove eight hours to Kansas City where Diva and her owners reunited. The TikTok clip shows the exact moment Diva saw her owners. She immediately ran over with her tail wagging back and forth. She couldn’t sit still as she was just as shocked to see her owners as they were after a long couple of months apart.

The video’s text overlay reads: “1,200 miles from home and two months later, Diva is finally home.”

“Working in the vet field can be really hard and take a toll emotionally, but it’s moments like these that make us remember why we do it,” Thornberry said.

This moment further solidified her choice to apply to veterinarian schools in the next few months.

“Seeing them reuniting was such a memorable experience,” she said. “The dog turned into a completely different dog, the owners were crying. I would do it all over again.”

The precious reunion amassed over 243,300 views and 64,200 likes on TikTok as of Friday afternoon.

“That dog loves her SO much. Look at those happy wiggles,” one TikTok user commented on the video, while another added: “Yall saved this sweet angel. So so glad yall were able to find her home.”

A third user commented: “The mom hugging you tightly. Thank god that pup was microchipped.”

Microchips are tiny implants placed under a dog’s skin. It holds a unique identification number that when scanned by a vet or shelter, shows that number and links to the owner’s contact information. As seen in this video, it can easily help connect owners to a lost pet.

The Humane Animal Support Services reported on its website that pets with a microchip are, on average, three times more likely to be reunified with their families than those without.

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