Priscilla Wolcott, an animal control officer at Fresno Humane Animal Services, recently got a call about a huge Rottweiler who’d been hanging around an older woman’s front porch for a week. The pup, who appeared lost, didn’t seem aggressive, but the homeowner
was nervous about his size.
“She was saying, ‘I’m older, I’m not agile, I’m worried it’s going to knock me over or something,’” Wolcott told The Dodo.
Wolcott, who often works alone, knew it was going to take a two-person team to handle such a large dog. Sure enough, when she and her rescue partner arrived, the Rottweiler was even larger than they’d expected.
“He was a big boy … he was 5 pounds away from 100 pounds,” Wolcott said.
It was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit that day in the area, so the dog was seeking refuge on the woman’s shady porch. Wolcott was worried he might be nervous to have two strangers approach him, but he was friendly and open to accepting help.
“It wasn’t like he was stiff or anything with his body language and his posturing,” Wolcott said. “He was relaxed.”
Wolcott and her rescue partner transported the large pup back to the Fresno Humane Animal Services facility. There, they scanned him for a microchip and found that he had one, but it was unregistered.
Based on the condition the dog was in, Wolcott guessed that the dog wasn’t a stray — he seemed like someone was missing him.
“He was very healthy,” Wolcott said. “His nails were trimmed, he was a good body weight, he was friendly. He knew what a leash was. Usually, those are telltale signs that they [have owners].”
In the meantime, the Fresno Humane Animal Services staff nicknamed the large, friendly pup NeeDoh after the popular squishy toys.
“[H]e’s just like a soft and squishy toy,” Wolcott said. “A little baby guy. He ended up being a sweetheart.”
Luckily, at the very end of NeeDoh’s 72-hour stray hold, his owner showed up. He told the staff that he’d been out of town and no one had informed him that his dog had escaped. He was extremely relieved to be reunited with his pup, whose real name was Sheru.
Sheru’s story is a great reminder about the importance of keeping microchip information up to date. Luckily for this pup, though, after being lost for a week, he got to go home to his favorite person.
