Taken Tango is Home Safe!

REUNITED: In a week!

When Tango, the Portuguese Water Dog, was dog-napped from his yard, his owners never believed they would see him again. With the help of a good Samaritan and Tango’s microchip enrolled to AKC Reunite, he could be safely reunited a week later!

“Tango was taken from my front yard by what was believed to be a homeless man as they are in the downtown area [where we live],” said Ryan, Tango’s owner. “We know this because my security camera had video of the incident, which I found later after searching my neighborhood extensively and putting up flyers!”

When Ryan noticed Tango was missing from the yard, immediately Ryan began searching the neighborhood, notified AKC Reunite, activated our Lost Pet Alert, and posted about Tango being missing to social media and community boards. He was hopeful that someone somewhere had spotted his stolen canine!

“There were some possible sightings via word of mouth and social media, and upon review of the video, the police had opened an incident report and let patrol know they could detain or otherwise actively pursue getting Tango back,” said Ryan.

In the end, the person who took Tango abandoned him. But thankfully, when a good Samaritan passing by saw a lost and wandering canine, they decided to corral Tango and bring him in to an animal clinic!

“He was missing for a week to the day and ultimately a good Samaritan found him on the road, with a collar, that wasn’t his, and drove him 20-30 miles to the nearest animal care center to have him scanned [for a microchip],” said Ryan. “They called me from the clinic and I also received a text alert from AKC Reunite and I was able to go pick him up.”

“What I can say is the microchip was essential. I believe a combination of flyers in the area where he might have been, a potential legal incident, word of mouth that we were still actively searching resulted in a decision [for the dog-napper] to let him loose!”

After a week away, we’re happy to report Tango is back home safe with his owners!