(Updated 31/7/01)

Microchip pays off!

LUCK WAS on the side of a beautiful golden lurcher when she was discovered to be microchipped after she was found living the life of a stray.

The stray lurcher had teamed up with a small terrier and had been seen on a regular beat scrounging for food in the Hayle area in Cornwall. After several reported sightings, Jane Verot of the National Animal Welfare Trust from the Wheal Alfred site at Hayle stepped in to try and catch the two ‘wanderers’.

Local people were encouraged to feed them to get the dogs to trust them and luckily for the lurcher, she was caught and taken into the care of the Carrick Animal Warden. After the seven-day period for which strays have to be kept and with no owner coming forward to claim her, she was released into the care of the National Animal Welfare Trust to be found a home.

It was then that the fact that she was microchipped came to light. All stray animals brought to the Wheal Alfred Centre are scanned, the chip was read and she was identified as having disappeared from Lifton in Devon some 14 months ago. Her overjoyed owner was contacted and he has since collected her and taken her home. The little terrier is still on the loose, but is expected to be picked up as soon as possible.