On April 28, my beloved Standard Poodle, Badger, managed to open the gate in our yard and get out. After three hours of searching in the rain, I finally decided to report him missing on PetLink. Not even ten minutes later I received a call from the local shelter asking if I was missing a dog! After confirming that I was, indeed, missing a dog, and driving to get him, I was reunited with my best friend, Badger. It may have only been for a couple of hours but it felt like forever. I have never been as anxious and scared in my entire life as I was for those few short hours. To me Badger is not just a dog. He is my friend and constant companion.

If not for my registration with PetLink, I don’t know if I would have ever seen Badger again. When I went to pick him up, the shelter volunteer told me I was lucky to have him registered with PetLink, because many people don’t go past the vet’s registration and are not added to a national database. Even though Badger had slipped his collar, through Badger’s microchip the shelter was able to find his home and the people who love him.