There is a $500 reward posted for a lost Boston Terrier named Lily. She is 1 1/2 years old, twenty pounds, last seen wearing a purple harness. She was stolen from her home during a break-in on Wednesday, August 6th. If you have any information call 432-9443.

A pure bred Beagle needs to be reunited with his family. He was found south of 38th and College with no tags. He has no microchip. Thus, today he has no name and no home. He was brought in to my store and a notice has been posted on our window. He is an older, well mannered, trained dog. He is very sweet. Please call 679-4062 if you can help. He needs his family or a new home.

A kitty that I had written about in June, found behind my shop, was never reunited. She had been spayed and declawed indicating she was a pet, not feral. Neighbors sort of adopted her. Then a week ago she was found dead behind the dry cleaners. She was the sweetest, prettiest long-haired cat and will be missed by all of us.

A sad, mysterious ending.

Every year ten million pets are lost. A pet with a registered microchip can be easily reunited with owners. I've been on this soap box before but it is worth repeating. Paw Patch Veterinary Hospital is running a special August, September and October with Home Again, a company my pets are registered with. The chip is $20.00 and the registration is $14.99. Home Again is an international data bank so it is good wherever your pet may travel or live. Should your pet get injured while lost, pet medical insurance at no extra cost kicks in to help while the pet is being reunited. 24/7 emergency medical service is available if the owner's vet's office is closed. This company also has arrangements for flying your pet home. A friend of mine (who I saw today at the Broad Ripple Farmer's Market) told me that after you have the pet chipped you have to follow through with the registration so the information of you as owner is in the data base. She hadn't done that and her dog was lost. This is a common problem. So the real deal here is the Paw Patch will do the registration for you and not just send you home with instructions on how to do it yourself. Otherwise you tend to put if off until you get around to it and in the mean time the pet gets lost, as in my friend's case. This is your best friend we are talking about who is counting on you for his/her best interests. Please be proactive about your pet's identity and at the very least have a collar with a tag on it. The above mentioned Beagle has a collar but no ID tag.

If only his owner had...............

Pets make you smile (and sometimes they make you cry).