See slide show of George.)" data-pin-do="buttonBookmark">
HOME AGAIN: George returned home last week after missing for more than 13 years thanks to an implanted microchip ID. (See slide show of George.)
Image: Frank Walburg
-
The Best Science Writing Online 2012
Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...
Read More »
De cat came back—thought she were a goner,
But de cat came back for it wouldn't stay away.
—Lyrics from "The Cat Came Back," a song written by Harry S. Miller in 1893.
It's a story that tugs at the heartstrings of all pet devotees: A cat given up for lost in 1995 has come home. As first reported by The Press Democrat, a gray and brown-tinged kitty with round, golden eyes named George was reunited with his Santa Rosa, Calif., owners last week after animal control officers tracked them down by scanning a microchip with identifying info implanted under the animal's skin. (See slideshow of George.)
Frank Walburg says his boy, George, now nearly 17, was but a shadow of his former self when found—weighing a paltry 6.3 pounds (2.9 kilograms), less than half the nearly 14 pounds (6.4 kilograms) he weighed the day he vanished over 13 years ago. He was also sick, suffering from a respiratory infection as well as toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease characterized by lethargy and weight loss, which can be successfully treated with antibiotics.
"He used to be like a heater on wheels," Walburg chuckles about his beloved feline friend, "like a lion in both appearance and walk," his wife, Melinda Merman, wrote on her Web site. Still, Walburg told the San Francisco Chronicle "there was no ambiguity that he was the same dude, no doubt about it."
George disappeared on June 23, 1995, back when Bill Clinton was president and Whitewater was in the headlines. Walburg says that he and Merman spent weeks scouring the neighborhood for him. They visited Sonoma County's five animal shelters every other day for six months, posted missing cat signs, sent flyers to and called every veterinary clinic in the area and offered a hefty $500 reward for his return. Alas, as days turned into weeks and weeks into months and months into years, Walburg says their hopes of finding George faded, "but we never stopped thinking about him."
"It was hard not knowing what might have happened to him," Walburg told ScientificAmerican.com, pausing to control his emotions. "We would imagine that he was just around the corner or trapped somewhere—and we would go and check."
And so one can only imagine how he and Merman felt last week when they received a call from Sonoma County Animal Care and Control: George was there, the message said. "We didn't know what to expect, we didn't know if he was dead or alive, because they also pick up animals on the road that have been killed," Walburg says, noting that he and Merman cried the entire 20-minute trip to claim him.
When they arrived at the county shelter, George was in medical isolation. "The routine practice is to scan for a chip and, if there isn't one, to make a determination on the spot" about an animal's fate, he says. "George was grossly sick, way underweight, he had watery eyes, was lethargic, not eating; there is zero doubt that since his health was so bad, they would not have been able to adopt him out to anyone and he would have been euthanized if it weren't for the microchip."
"He's home because of his microchip,'' Walburg says, noting that his wife, then a volunteer at the Humane Society (and now at Forgotten Felines, which spays and neuters feral cats and provides food for them until their natural deaths), insisted that George and his three littermates be micro-chipped when they adopted them in 1992. At that time, the technology was new and mostly used on dogs.
U.S. animal microchip manufacturer AVID Identification Systems, Inc., based in southern California, filed for a patent on the technology in 1985; the first chips were implanted into companion animals in 1989, according to Mary Metzner, AVID's shelter operations representative (who trains animal control officers and shelter personnel on how to properly implant and use the system). She says the rice-size radio-frequency identification (RFID) device is activated with a handheld scanner; the radio frequency used is 125 kilohertz.
See what we're tweeting about
18 Comments
Add CommentCan't type... got tears in my eyes
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCheck out rainbowbridge.com and you will see how much people love their pets. If it does not make you cry then you have no heart.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFrankiez? You sound like someone who for the sake of "national security" is all right with the NSA/Raptor program reading your email, postal mail, monitoring credit card purchases and your travel because you "have nothing to hide" but thinks gun registration is out of the question because the government would know too much about you ;) .... another right wing hypocrite disguised as a human.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOn a serious note, it is a 'best practice' to scan lost pets and very important to their owners. Years ago I found a cat and was not encouraged to do this by the local SPCA. 'Found cat' report and description didn't turn up an owner. 3 years later we identified the original owner when the new chip we had just inserted was scanned for proper functioning,, only to reveal an original chip which, ironically, had been implanted by the same SPCA when my cat was found as a kitten. The situation created was difficult and avoidable. Popular stories like this will hopefully create awareness of the need to do this when a lost pet is found. In my area, the SPCA now routinely asks that found pets be brought to the shelter specifically for the purpose of scanning.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHi, this is Frank,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFirst Lisa has done the best job in covering the totality of this story. Sure there is the 'cat found alive and returned after 13 years angle which *everyone* did because it was a feel good thump at the end of the news. That was not the bigger part of things.
The more enduring aspects of the story, which still are:
1) If you have a pet, get a chip implant... just in case. If you find an animal get it scanned to see if there is a Primary Companion out there.
2) If you are a vet, scan all animals presented to for care *and* validate the person presenting them for is the Primary Companion contact *or* relinquished the relationship to the person who brought the animal to you.
3) If you find a stray....PLEASE have it scanned before assuming it doesn't belong to anyone!!!
This reunion after 13 1/2 years is only possible because of the Micro chip implant... in essence the invisible collar with the ID tag.
-ALSO-
There is a problem with the way the veterinarian community behaves. Remember George was treated over time by 4 vet according to the woman who had him. None of those vets scanned him but everyone of them sells the chip and implantation services for $40 to $90. The pitch they make to facilitate the sale is 'your pet will be scanned by vets and shelters so they can be reunited with you'.
How can the vets take the money and make the explicit promise the community does scan animals when they don't scan them at the treatment presentation side, which would effect the reunification?
I asked this of the last vet she took George to and the answer was fairly close to, "I'm pleased when anyone presents an animal for care. I have somebody who is acting responsibly that is looking out for the animal at that moment and is willing to pay for my services, why would I upset that relationship, by trying to find someone that may not be as interested or is perhaps less willing have the animal treated or pay for my services?"
In the broader world there is word used to describe services rendered for a fee paid and not rendering them. Veterinarians have got to become better at this.
I plan to become more of an expert on animal based micro ID chips and their use. I have the phone number of the Redwood Empire Veterinary Medical Association (the organization all vets in my area collect under) and want to speak at their meeting and I know there is a California Veterinary Medical Association that I will try to speak at it too.
Frank,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou are right on all of this. We had the same experience with vets who failed to scan my cat despite my telling them clearly that he was a found cat and that I was sure he had been someone's pet previously. In fact, he had been someone else's pet for the first 6 years of his life (and ours for the last 6 based on the wonderful generosity of the previous owners). But it shouldn't have come to this.
The public needs to be aware enough to demand this and your story helps. Good luck with George!!
I was very touched by the story of George. We are living in Portugal coming from Flanders in Belgium. We brought our two cats over here and had 2 stray dogs adopted. The dog were just skin over bones and very shy. A year later they recovered entirely and they and we had 13 years of nice living together. It is beautifull to see how these animals are thankfull for what you are doing for them, for the food and the affection. Never tell me again that they have only an instinct, there is definitely something more in their little heads.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt's a pity but all are friends left us because their lifespans are so much shorter than ours. I can imagine the joy of the owners of George when they
got him back. I'm whishing George and his owners all the best
Louis
Read your story on line at Scientific American; glad you got George back...I've had similar pet returns, but none so lengthy & dramatic. Question: Walburg is a rare name, and one that's near in my family tree. My Walburgs came out of southern Sweden, passed thru N.Dakota & Iowa. Sound familiar in any way?? xxxraydon@yahoo.com
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHey frankiez76 - Sounds like YOU need to be chipped! This is not about humans or "Big Brother", but a heart warming story of a pet long lost come home. Maybe its time to remove all the aluminum foil from your ceiling and walls - not everyone cares what you are doing.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGreat story about George. I am happy for you.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRegards from 'Down-under', Don
Great story about George. I am very happy for you.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRegards from 'down-under', Don
its an interesting article that shows how important is a chip and an example of the advanced technology aplication
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisthe article is an example of aplication of new technology can be aplicated to solve problems.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe objetive of the technology is to help people to find solutions.
Frank,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am happy to hear you have George back! I agree all vets should scan first time pets. I am a vet tech, and all regular vet offices I have worked at scanned new pets (I now work at an emergency clinic, we only scan strays).
I am upset that 4 vets did not scan him.
Since hurricanes Katrina/Rita, all veterinarians in the Greater New Orleans area (probably all in Louisiana) now require a chip in EVERY animal they treat. I was told that it's the law, and a direct result of the heart-rending animal-owner separations that happened here in 2005. (Although, frankly, I cannot imagine evacuating without taking my cat. If a hurricane seems dangerous enough for me to leave, I'm not leaving without my furry friend!)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI like to say Im glad George made it home to say his goodbyes to his owners ,they sound like great people.I have folled this story of george ,and
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIM sad to see he died this monday 12-08-08, will miss you GEORGE.
I have followed George's story for a month and IM sorry to hear he died last monday 12-08-08,will miss you .
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAn amazing story that is heartfelt. Over the years I have found many lost cats but could not reunite them with their owners. There was no microchip ID or collar with tag. This story brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for sharing
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this