Lost dog reunited with Galway family after two years

Sarah Slater

A dog was reunited with her delighted Galway family after two years thanks to a woman who found her in the middle of a busy Dublin street.

Little Baya, a pug, was found over the weekend by a woman who brought her to the Dublin Society for Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (DSPCA) based in Rathfarnham. The dog was 207km from her original home.

When charity officials scanned her to establish whether she was microchipped, which would show who owned her, they found that the dog had been flagged on the FIDO (Fast Identification Online) database that she was classed as lost/stolen.

Fido.ie was founded in 2004 to help reunite lost pets with their owners by providing a 24-hour recovery service for pets identified with a microchip.

Stolen and reunited after 2 years.

When we scanned her for a microchip & looked up her details on the FIDO database we couldn't believe that she had been flagged as "Lost/Stolen 2 years ago from Galway". Baya was found in the middle of a busy road here in Dublin. #Dog #dspca pic.twitter.com/pTPtMkly2U

— DSPCA (@DublinSPCA) January 16, 2023

Gillian Bird, a spokesperson for the DSPCA said: “It was only (recently) that we highlighted the importance of microchipping your pets and then little Baya came along. Thankfully she was microchipped.

“It is unclear if she had strayed or was taken from her family. Perhaps someone found her and put up posters about her across various parts of the country or Dublin.

“That is why it’s so important to go through official channels of going to a dog pound, so a dog can be scanned for a microchip.

"It is also vital that veterinary surgeons scan dogs to see if they are microchipped.

“We were able to reunite her with her heartbroken owners with one simple phone call. They would never have found her had it not been for her microchip, so please everyone, make sure your pet is microchipped and registered to you, you owe it to them.”

Baya headed home with her very emotional and overjoyed family on Saturday.

Ms Bird added: “We’ve received lots of updates since her homecoming, and she's settled right back into her home and doesn't mind sharing her bed with her new four legged sister.

“Life is good again for sweet gentle Baya all thanks to her microchip, and we couldn’t be happier”.