When Gail Gordon lost her dog, Whiskey, four-and-a-half years ago, she wasn’t sure she’d see him again.
“I had pretty much given up on finding out where he was,” Gordon said.
That changed when Gordon received a call from a veterinarian in Wyoming she knew.
“She said, ‘Whiskey has been scanned,’ and I said, ‘Excuse me?’” Gordon said.
Alachua County Animal Resources took Whiskey in and traced him back to Gordon by scanning his microchip. Gordon didn’t hesitate to travel to recover Whiskey.
“I'll do what I have to do because whiskey comes first in my mind,” Gordon said. “So, I called my sister. I'm like, ‘Hey, I'm going to Florida. I'm going to go get my dog,’ and she's like, ‘I'll go with you.’”
Gordon, along with her sister, left her home in Basin, Wyoming, the morning of Feb. 23 and drove until they stopped in Kansas City, Missouri, to sleep in Gordon’s car. The pair then stopped in Manchester, Tennessee, Feb. 24 to sleep yet again — that time in a hotel. Gordon arrived at Alachua County Animal Resources Feb. 25 to reunite with Whiskey.
“I was shaking,” she said. “I was like, ‘I need to get in there.’”
Animal Resources Shelter Supervisor Brittany D’Azzo witnessed Gordon and Whiskey’s reunion firsthand. D’Azzo said it was heartwarming to see.
“It was wonderful,” she said. “It reminded us that, you know, all of this is worth it.”
The reunion also reminded D’Azzo of the value of microchipping pets.
“We want to make sure that they get home,” she said. “So, please microchip your animals so that we can get them returned to you.”
The staff of any public or private animal shelter can microchip dogs and cats, according to Florida Statute 823.15. Alachua County Animal Resources charges a base rate of $20 for microchipping, according to the county’s website.
Gordon attributed being able to recover Whiskey to his microchip.
“Microchipping is what got him home,” she said. “If [Whiskey] weren't microchipped, I never would’ve got him home.”
Now in Wyoming, Whiskey is back in the swing of digging in Gordon’s backyard, enjoying treats and taking his fair share of naps.
“He’s tremendously loved,” Gordon said.