Millie, a 13-year-old deaf Springer Spaniel who went missing recently, was reunited almost instantly with her owners, Sonja and Stephen Williams from Beyton, Suffolk, thanks to her microchip.

Millie was out on a walk with Sonja and Stephen and their two other dogs last month when she went missing. With help from her microchip, Petlog, the UK’s largest lost and found database for microchipped animals, and the person who found her, Millie was reunited with her family almost instantly.

Sonja explains: “As she is getting older and likes to walk at her own pace, we take her off lead and she regularly walks behind us when we go out for walks. On this particular evening, Stephen turned around and realised Millie was no longer behind him. We think she had followed other walkers by mistake and she ended by the village green wandering in the road and we were rather franticly trying to find her.”

Luckily for the couple, Bill Lambert, Health and Breeder Services Manager from the Kennel Club (which manages Petlog) was on his way home from a dog show with his wife when they came across Millie standing in the road. Unfortunately Millie’s ID tag had fallen off, but Bill happened to have a microchip scanner in his car and scanned Millie before calling Petlog.

Bill commented: “We were driving back from the show and I saw the dog standing in the road looking frightened. We pulled over and comforted her and checked for an ID tag but she didn’t have one – I then remembered I had the scanner in the car and fortunately she was microchipped. We thought it may take a while to find her family so we took her home until she could be reunited. She was a real sweetie and we worked out she must have been deaf as she didn’t react at all when we put her in the car and our two dogs barked excitedly at her. It was around 15 minutes later when we spoke with Millie’s family and they came to pick her up.”

Luckily, Millie was microchipped with a Pet ID microchip and registered with Petlog. Once her owners were identified and contacted they travelled to pick up Millie.

Sonja continued: “We were delighted to have her back so quickly. Thanks to Bill and Petlog she was home safe and sound to sleep in her own bed that very evening. We’d hate to think of her in a council pound at her age. We’ve had her since she was three years old and she is very much part of the family.”

Celia Walsom, Petlog Executive said: “This is a wonderful story that highlights both the importance of microchipping and one of the many reasons it will become compulsory in 2016. We are delighted that we could help in reuniting Millie with her family so quickly. As pet owners, we know there is nothing worse than when a pet goes missing.”

If you would like to find out more about microchipping your pet, visit the Petlog website: www.petlog.org.uk.