Stolen Oreo and owner reunite in Southampton after chance sighting

Article content

Four months after Oreo went missing, the black-and-white dog was reunited with his “human” after police were called following a chance sighting of him being walked in Southampton April 3. 

Article content

 In a social media post, Saugeen Shores Police Service said they took stolen dog report that day and were told Oreo had gone missing at the end of 2023.

“We are happy to say Oreo was located and returned to their human,” police said, adding the reunion was made much easier as Oreo was microchipped, leading police to encourage all pet owners to microchip their pets in case of theft or wandering.

Article content

“Make sure that when you get your animal microchipped that you ensure it is activated and your details are entered into the system – collars and name tags can be removed and switched in order to hide an animals real identity,” police said in the post, adding if you find a dog/cat wandering, call animal control and try to locate its owners. 

Article content

Police thanked the Southampton Pet Hospital for their assistance in scanning Oreo for a microchip to identify the owner. 

A Southampton Pet Hospital staff member described Oreo as “really cute and so sweet” before forwarding a request for details call to another employee, Becca, who said Oreo’s privacy rights prevented her from providing  any information – even his breed or age. 

She said microchipping is becoming more popular with pet owners, stressing that people need to update their contact information with their chip company if they move as they’ve had instances where finding owners of strays was hampered by outdated information. 

At press time, police had not responded to a request for details about the incident. 

Article content