After a Florida brewery decided to feature adoptable shelter dogs on their beer cans, their philanthropic campaign ended up being a huge success in more ways than one. Not only did multiple shelter dogs manage to get adopted, but one missing dog who’d been lost for three years was finally reunited with her owner.
It still remains a mystery as to how Day Day managed to get all the way down to Manatee County Animal Services, Florida shelter, which is over a thousand miles away from her original home. The day was microchipped, however, her owners hadn’t updated the contact information, so the staff was unable to notify them.
Thankfully, luck intervened on Day Day’s behalf when the Motorworks Brewery decided to feature shelter pets on their beer cans, and they came asking the shelter where Day Day was at if they would partner with them on this venture.
Given her friendly nature and a big smile, it was decided that Day Day would be the perfect dog to feature on the side of a beer can. You can even see her can below (third to the right):
However, no one could have anticipated what would happen next when a Minnesota woman was scrolling through her Facebook feed and recognized Day Day.
Her owner, Monica Mathis, recalled, “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! That’s my dog!’”
Mathis, who was living in Iowa three years ago when Day Day, then known as Hazel, went missing, said, “I really thought she was gone, I never thought I’d see her again. I had a doubt, I was like ‘Oh my gosh, it looks like her, but is it really her?’”
Mathis immediately got in contact with Manatee County Animal Services where she provided proof of ownership. This included verifying the old address associated with Hazel’s microchip, plus providing an array of photos of Day Day growing up.
Hans Wohlgefahrt, a shelter worker, said, “We saw photos and vet records. This dog was such an important part of her family that she had everything to prove she was her owner.”
“It’s a great reminder to people when they do these things to go into their profile and make sure all their contact information is up to date,” Wohlgefahrt said.
Of the 4,000 stray pets that come through this shelter every year, the staff is able to reunite about 500 animals with their owners – almost all of those pets are microchipped with up-to-date information.
Monica Mathis has certainly learned a valuable lesson from this experience. “Keep track of exactly what company you use, make sure your stuff gets updated, especially if your pet goes missing and don’t ever give up,” she said.
