Microchip helps Idaho Yorkie get home for the holidays

Cooper the dog is flying home at 5 a.m. today after he went missing nearly four months ago from his Nampa, Idaho home.

Owner Jaylene Comstock has been frantically searching for her Yorkshire Terrier, who weighs about eight pounds. She recently received a tip that he might be living in Tucson.

The Pima Animal Care Center and the Tucson Police Department helped track him down, but it was his microchip that made it clear they’d found Cooper.

“I was doing everything I could to find my baby,” Comstock said. “It’s going to be the best Christmas. I’ve got a little Yorkie friend for him now and he’s going to love it because he loves to play, play, play.”

Comstock said Cooper was stolen by a “former friend.”

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“I came home from work and he was gone, which is really odd,” she said. “Normally, if he did get out, he’d be right around the corner.”

This year, PACC has returned 1,867 pets to their owners, including 1,768 dogs and 99 cats. However, few dogs fly home from Tucson.

Cooper had been renamed in his new household, but the microchip “saved the day” and confirmed Comstock was his real owner, said Justin Gallick, PACC’s live release manager.

“Everyone should look into microchipping their pets,” Gallick said. “I’m sure he’s going to be happy to get home and see his mom again.”