Time for a happier story, or two...
It had taken a few days, but der B had made arrangements for us to take a female dog in to the vet's office, to check on her chip implant. For those who don't know about these doohickies, they now make microchips that can be implanted in dogs, usually along the back of the neck. The implant give a readout to a scanner with a number, which is then called in to the implant company. They, in turn, have the information on how to contact the dog's (or cat's) owner.
The reason for all this was that the Rescue Society had received word that a female dog was being held by a family not too far from where we live. They knew that the dog, named Lexi, had a chip implant, but the mother had to work days and the kids had no way of taking the dog in to the vet themselves. (Isn't it great how all the organizations like vet hospitals who can help these animals never seem to have their hours set up so that people can come in to get their help?)
Lexi, it turned out, was a very nice huskie mix. Her ears were a little fly-bitten, but she had a calm disposition and was very friendly. She had no problems with my putting a leash on her, or with getting in our car and going for a ride with complete strangers.
The only problem was that when we got to the vet hospital, everything was closed down for a couple of hours. It seems that Tuesdays they hold a weekly staff meeting, and don't even leave a receptionist on duty for anyone who comes in. Gee, you'd think they could have told der Brucer about that time-gap on the phone, when he called to make sure they would help us with the stray.
Lacking anything better to do, we took Lexi with us while we went to vote.
Yes, there was indeed a line at our polling place. Lexi didn't mind one bit. She took der B up and down the line, giving everyone friendly sniffs and playing with the children who were waiting with their parents. This clued us in on one major detail about Lexi: she had clearly had a good relationship with people. This also gave der B a chance to talk with other voters about our Animal Rescue activities.
As it was, getting through the polling line took about a half hour, enough time to get the hospital workers back on duty. Returning to the hospital, it only took a few minutes for the doctor on duty to return with the results: yes, Lexi's owners were frantic to get her returned to them! We'd had a hunch they would be, or why have the chip implanted?
We returned Lexi to the family who'd been taking care of her. There's still a few odd questions, such as why the people who had handed Lexi over to the family had known her name, and why they hadn't taken care of Lexi themselves or tried to contact her owners. But it looks like this story is going to have a happy ending.
And no, we don't know what would have happened if der B and I didn't have the time to help with all the transportation. But that's another matter...
