American Bulldog McCoy joined Melissa Carlson’s Minnesota family as a puppy.
At about 9 months old, this 98 lb. pup went missing. Carlson reported him as stolen with his microchip company and quickly went into action to get the word out about McCoy including getting out flyers, physically going out to search for him, contacting an expansive list of shelters, posting on any/all lost pet FB pages and more. Despite her efforts, there were no sightings of McCoy reported.
Having worked in the animal rescue field for many years, Melissa knew how vital it was to keep her contact info current, even after years had passed. AND, by reporting him as stolen this added another level of assurance that she would be contacted if he ended up being scanned at a vet office or shelter.
Fast forward to about two weeks before Christmas 2016. Melissa Carlson received a call she had dreamed of … her beloved dog McCoy was at a Minnesota shelter and ready to be reunited with her! McCoy’s microchip company made the call saying the words she had only hoped one day to hear “we have your dog”.
She was informed that McCoy had been brought in as a surrender to the Wadena County Humane Society, about 2 and 1/2 hours from her home, where he was scanned for a microchip and it was thankfully detected!
Carlson was floored, ecstatic and overwhelmed with the news! Given the time of day and distance, a friend drove her the next day to pick up McCoy.
Here’s a video of the moment she was reunited!
Melissa Carlson
Posted by Melissa Wry on Monday, December 12, 2016
While much is still unknown about where McCoy has been for over two years, Carlson has learned that he was brought into the shelter to be rehomed by a family that had just acquired McCoy as a free giveaway from a man who had listed him as free on an online classified site. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for Carlson, McCoy was not getting along with their existing pet which led them to the shelter surrender.
Home At Last
Finally home
McCoy is back home and slowly settling in, but Carlson notes that there are some signs that he was likely kept outdoors much of the time. His pads, for example, bled easily when walking out in the cold weather and he was quite anxious to head back inside! He also has a severe ear infection.
An experienced dog owner, Carlson has provided for McCoy to slowly get acclimated to his new fur sibling Macie who joined the family after McCoy went missing. The introduction will be taking place soon.
Macie, the fur sibling McCoy will be meeting very soon!
He is back to his “norm” of following mom everywhere, and still sleeps in his familiar (and adorable) position as shown below!
Some things never change …
While Carlson’s children are equally ecstatic to have McCoy home, she instructed them to take things slow and allow McCoy to come to them in his own time, respecting what he has gone through and the transition. Clearly she was thrilled to walk in recently to find McCoy laying across all three of the kids. Progress indeed!
Referring to McCoy as “the love of my life” Carlson says she finally feels “whole” again. Now full grown weighing in at 130 lbs., McCoy is a cherished, loved and integral member of her family.
McCoy’s story of how he came to be reunited is a reminder of how many pets are rehomed from owner to owner, who are unaware of the pet’s history and are not scanned for a chip during the process. In this case, it was fortunate that McCoy’s rehoming didn’t work out, leading the new owners to bring him into the shelter to be rehomed.
A shout out to Wadena County Humane Society for detecting McCoy’s microchip and contacting the microchip company making his reunion possible.
2017 has started off as a great one for this family. McCoy is still a young dog which is a blessing to the Carlson family who we wish a very long and happy life ahead with McCoy.
Welcome home McCoy!
A huge thanks to Melissa Carlson for sharing her story and providing these pics and video, and to her friend who drove her to pick up McCoy and captured/posted this video for all to enjoy.
Remember to microchip, register, and keep your contact info updated!
Even if your pet has gone missing and it’s been some time, you might one day get that miracle call!
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