saimin comes home

The microchip embedded in 12-year-old Saimin, an 81⁄2-pound rat terrier, made a touching New Year's reunion possible nearly eight years after the dog disappeared.

Krista Hodges, a sociology lecturer at the University of Hawaii and Saimin's owner, said she headed straight to the Hawaiian Humane Society on New Year's Day after getting a call from the organization that a small dog named Saimin registered to her had been dropped off at the shelter.

"It was a great way to start the new year," Hodges said. "He was an old friend that was never forgotten."

The Hawaiian Humane Society reunited Saimin with Hodges after he was surrendered to the organization by a person who had been taking care of him for the past four or five years, said Tasha Tani­moto, communications officer for the Humane Society. Tani­moto and Hodges do not know where Saimin might have been before that.

With a scan of Saimin's microchip, Humane Society workers were able to identify Hodges as Saimin's owner.

"I absolutely support microchipping," Hodges said. "My other two dogs are also microchipped."

The microchip embedded in 12-year-old Saimin, an 81⁄2-pound rat terrier, made a touching New Year's reunion possible nearly eight years after the dog disappeared.

Krista Hodges, a sociology lecturer at the University of Hawaii and Saimin's owner, said she headed straight to the Hawaiian Humane Society on New Year's Day after getting a call from the organization that a small dog named Saimin registered to her had been dropped off at the shelter.

"It was a great way to start the new year," Hodges said. "He was an old friend that was never forgotten."

The Hawaiian Humane Society reunited Saimin with Hodges after he was surrendered to the organization by a person who had been taking care of him for the past four or five years, said Tasha Tani­moto, communications officer for the Humane Society. Tani­moto and Hodges do not know where Saimin might have been before that.

With a scan of Saimin's microchip, Humane Society workers were able to identify Hodges as Saimin's owner.

"I absolutely support microchipping," Hodges said. "My other two dogs are also microchipped."