A dog who was missing for eight months has been found in the back of an ambulance – some 50 miles from her home.
Jazz, a Cocker Spaniel, disappeared from her home in Powys, mid-Wales, last year.
Her owner Emma Darling, 45, and her family were determined to be reunited with their much-loved pet.
She alerted Petlog – the UK’s largest pet microchip database – and her vets.
She put up posters, shared social media appeals and searched for Jazz every day for months.
Eight months later, Emma received a call from a vet’s practice in Wolverhampton – more than 50 miles from Powys.
A black Cocker Spaniel had been handed into the practice by an ambulance worker who discovered her in the back of an ambulance during a shift.
After the vet scanned the dog’s microchip, it was confirmed to be Jazz and she was finally reunited with Emma and her family.
‘We felt so sad for so long’
“I was determined to find Jazz,” said Emma.
She added: “I couldn’t eat and felt like my head was about to explode every day. Some days I just cried.
“My two daughters were so upset, it was absolutely heart-breaking. We felt so sad for so long.”
Emma said she did not expect to receive a phone call eight months later that Jazz had been found.
“When my phone rang that day… Never in a million years did I think the vet was going to tell me they had Jazz! They had scanned Jazz and been able to contact me because of her microchip,” she added.
“It turns out Jazz had been dumped in an ambulance while the crew were tending to a patient. They heard a noise in the back and went to investigate, and there was Jazz,” Emma said.
Emma remains grateful to the ambulance worker who cared for Jazz when she was found.
“Alex who works for the ambulance service and found Jazz in the vehicle really was an angel,” she said.
“That night, when she had a break from her shift, she took Jazz home and bathed her and looked after her all night until the vets opened the next day.
“Jazz was wet and tired, with algae on her coat, so Alex thinks she may have been dumped in the nearby canal.”
Microchip miracles do happen
It is a legal requirement for dogs to be microchipped in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
In England, cats will also have to be microchipped from next summer.
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Bill Lambert, a spokesperson for Petlog, which is run by The Kennel Club, said not all stories of missing pets have “a happy ending” like Jazz and Emma’s.
“So many others end terribly with devastating repercussions,” he said.
“No one ever expects it to happen, but during this year’s National Microchipping Month, we are urging all owners to microchip their pets and check that their details are completely up-to-date, so that they have the very best chance of being reunited with their four-legged family member.”
