A pet rescue organization is reminding pet owners to microchip their animals after a Nanaimo family dog was stolen last June and only just reunited with its family on New Year’s Eve.
Sweet Pea, a 14-year-old Maltese gave her Nanaimo family a happy start to 2025 after she was reunited with them on New Year’s Eve.
“That was just an amazing gift to be able to give to them,” said Pamela Saddler, founder of Broken Promises Rescue.
Saddler says Sweet Pea was surrendered to one of her volunteers on Christmas Eve with matted hair.
“We made a vet appointment. She’s elderly and she did look like she had some skin issues,” said Saddler.
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During the examination, it was discovered that Sweet Pea was microchipped and the rescue was able to track down and contact who the dog was registered to.
“[They] told me that they did not own the dog anymore they gave it to a friend many years earlier, 12 years earlier actually.”
Thankfully, the previous owner knew the current owner and they were able to make contact.
“Oh my goodness!” said the volunteer as she handed over Sweet Pea to her owner.
The rescue centre’s founder says the dog did not have any signs of abuse from when she was stolen and it’s not believed the person who surrendered Sweet Pea was involved in the dognapping.
Saddler says dogs like Sweet Pea who aren’t neutered are sometimes stolen for illegal breeding.
“People do get them unfortunately [for] breeding purposes, but sometimes small dogs are hard to come by and some people want a small dog and they’ll take them for their own benefit.”
The rescue says the extra detective work required to track down Sweet Pea’s current owner was worth it when they were able to reunite the family.
Saddler says it’s a reminder to pet owners to have their animals microchipped in case they’re ever lost or taken.
“It’s like the size of a grain of rice and it gets implanted in the back of the neck. When it’s scanned by the microchip reader, it has a 12-digit number and that’s registered to the owner,” said the founder.
The owner of Sweet Pea was not available for an interview.
