Azul: A New Year Story to warm your heart "We can't wait until we can actually hug him freely and love him."

​On December 11th, #MicrochipHunters received a case from Chicago Animal Care and Control. I posted it, and pulled up the picture of a sweet looking gray little Pitbull that had been there since December 5th. CACC was the implanter of this chip, and it was unregistered with Avid, so the information from CACC was all I had. The phone number for David was disconnected, and I decided to work on this case the next day to get it started, and as usual I began researching the owner's name.

I left a voicemail to a home number I found that matched the owner's name on the microchip, hoping it was correct, but the outgoing message was in Spanish. Just in case, I continued my search, coming up with a relative's phone number, which turned out to be the son-in-law. He told me his father-in-law doesn't have a dog, but asked if I could send a picture to him. A few minutes later, the daughter, Marisol, called me. She said, OMG this is Azul! Her brother and his girlfriend owned Azul together, but a few years ago broke up and the girlfriend was "keeping" the dog. They are not in contact with her, and Marisol's brother is in the armed forces, so he could not be contacted nor could he pick him up. Azul is still registered to the father and he said he absolutely wants Azul home with them. Marisol asked me when they could pick him up, and went to CACC first thing the next day to take him home.

I received a call from Marisol that day, Dec 13th. Sadly, when David and one of his sons went to pick up Azul, they were told he had a contagious skin disease, called Sarcoptic Mange, and that they would have to wear gloves and keep him away from people until the treatment would get rid of it. (video below) It was pretty severe, and this could be weeks. Since David is caring for an elderly family member in his home, he couldn't take any chances. He had no choice but to surrender the dog to CACC. This broke my heart, and Marisol told me that her father is very emotional about what happened. He was heartbroken too; Azul, after a few minutes of David's presence, was so happy to see him, then he had to leave him there.

I let my #LostDogsIllinois' (LDI) director, Susan, know what was going on, and how upset I and the family was about Azul. Susan contacted CACC, and they let her know that a rescue would most likely take him and care for his condition. I let Marisol and her family know this, and she asked if there is any way to get him once he was well. I told her we would work on it, but that I couldn't make any promises.

I clicked on Azul's link daily, checking if a rescue came for that sweet boy. I wanted to be sure I knew where he went. On December 19th, I heard back from Marisol, "Hi. Do you know how Azul is doing? Although my dad was not the official owner and far less the one who neglected Azul, I hope the rescue understands the situation and knows that my dad is hoping to give Azul a forever home. Know that we are thinking of him."

Again, I contacted Susan, the LDI director for help, and she contacted CACC again hoping to help this family. Another week went by, and finally, on Dec 26th, we were told that Azul's treatments weren't working, and that his owners could pick him up but they had to be there in the next couple of days. They didn't have a rescue that was willing to take him, and he wasn't getting better. I was devastated, and Susan knew that. She was too. She said, "Let me try Heather at @Chicagoland Rescue Intervention & Support Program - CRISP once more and see if they can help." CRISP let her know they will help! THANK YOU CRISP! Crisp will be paying for Azul's treatment at Countryside Vet!

I called Marisol, and told her what was going on. I wanted to be certain that if CRISP would help treat Azul, that they would take him home. She said, OMG yes, of course! In order for this to work, her father would have to go to CACC in person, and pick Azul up with gloves on to take him to the vet to be left there for treatment. I wasn't sure they would be willing to do this, but they really love Azul and can't wait for him to get better. She said, we can go there tomorrow or Friday, and pick him up no problem.
Lost Dogs Illinois paid the redemption fee for Azul to get his reunion started. Any donations will be used for other reclaim fees.

Azul is now at Countryside vet, thanks to CACC, to Susan from LDI, to Heather at CRISP, and to Marisol and her dad. He is being treated and we are all anxiously awaiting his recovery so he can go home. He is such a beautiful and sweet boy, and he deserves to be well and in a loving home. I know how much love his family has to give him. They are amazing!

Thank you so much to Chicago Animal Control for sending this case to Microchip Hunters. I am so happy I was able to be a part of this reunion.

Marisol said, "We can't wait until we can actually hug him freely and love him." Get well soon Azul, we can't wait either!
***Photos of Azul and his dad going to the vet***
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~Jeanette
Lost Dogs Illinois
Microchip Hunters