Dog, missing for 2 years, reunited with Eagle Rock family at Baldwin Park animal shelter

BALDWIN PARK — A dog that disappeared from the backyard of an Eagle Rock family two years ago was reunited with it’s “ecstatic” owners this week after turning up at a Baldwin Park animal shelter, officials said.
The small American Eskimo mix named Aka, which his Hawaiian for shadow, was brought to the County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control’s Baldwin Park Office early Tuesday afternoon, DACC spokeswoman Evelina Villa said.
By 6:20 p.m., she was back in the hands of the Sao family, who believed she was stolen from their home, she added.
“They were ecstatic,” Villa said.
“Aka’s family was sure she had been stolen from their Eagle Rock backyard in 2011 and had given up hope that she would ever be found,” DACC officials said in a written statement.
But a microchip imbedded under the pet’s skin made the happy reunion possible, according to DACC officials.
“As a standard procedure, we scan every animal for a microchip that comes into our care for this very reason,” according to DACC Director Marcia Mayeda.
Identifying information programmed into the microchip led shelter officials to the owners, who rushed down to pick up their long lost four-legged family member.
Officials examined Aka after the dog was dropped off at the shelter and found her to be in good health, Villa said.
Animal control officials recommend all pet owners have their animal’s implanted with a microchip in case their pets become lost. The information stored on the rice grain-size chip cannot be altered, lost or destroyed.
For more information about DACC and microchipping pets, visit http://animalcare.lacounty.gov.

PHOTOS courtesy of the County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control

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