[News] Yorkie Found 1000 Miles Away
 

But shaved? Poor little guy, at least he was rescued by a kind stranger!
---
Duke is one lucky dog to have Rhonda Beckma* in his life.

Duke is a Yorkshire Terrier who tips the scale at less than 5 pounds.

Beckman, co-owner of Main Street Day Spa in Uptown Village, said she can be obsessive about her pets. And that proved to be a very good thing for Duke when he suddenly disappeared from Beckman's back yard on June 30.

Beckman was on vacation at the time, but housesitters called her to say Duke, one of two Yorkshires owned by Beckman, was missing.

Two other dogs went missing that night on the same street.

Worth about $1,500 for breeding purposes, Beckman assumed Duke was dognapped.

It only took a few hours for Beckman to set up a recovery effort. Letters went to local veterinarians and humane societies in Washington, Oregon and California.

She logged onto Web sites of Yorkshire terrier breeders.

Posters in English and Spanish were placed in local grocery stores and an ad was placed in the newspaper.

"Yes, I do get obsessed, but it was something that can't be replaced," Beckman said.

In the end, it wasn't the posters, ads or Internet that led to Duke's recovery.

It was a microchip implanted under his skin.

Duke was found in Redondo Beach, Calif., about 1,000 miles from home.

A resident discovered the dog in her back yard weighing a little over three pounds. Duke was shaved from head to toe, even his whiskers.

It's still a mystery to Beckman how he got there and why he was shaved.

Traumatized and starving, Duke was lucky. The woman who found him took him to the vet and it was there, in a routine scan most vets do with strays, that a chip was discovered.

Imbedded on the chip is information about the dog, its owner and contact information. It also showed he was missing or stolen.

Linda Spaudling, a friend of Beckman, arranged for her to fly to California and retrieve Duke. It had been just more than five months between the time he disappeared and the day he came home.

What happened to Duke is a perfect example of why people should have chips placed in their pets, Beckman said.

"The vet in California said he scans animals all the time, but this was only the second time that he had a pet show up with a chip," Beckman said.

http://www.columbian.com/01032005/life/228801.html

If only Duke could speak! What a lovely happy ending but how awful it happened in the first place, poor little yorkie! Gypsy Rose was microchipped when she was spayed and the same fate awaits Gizzie Chavi!!

well obviously someone took him right??? especially if he was SHAVED!!! (maybe the people who dognapped him were trying to make him look different than his picture :cool: ......lol......... because duke is really a SUPER SPY!!!)