Tattoo Links Missing Dog to Its Owners

Shamrock is one lucky dog.

The male Labrador retriever ran off from his Glenoaks Boulevard home in Sylmar three weeks ago when he was spooked by firecrackers set off at a nearby house.

Shamrock roamed the streets for days. He was struck by a car and taken to the West Valley Animal Shelter in Chatsworth, where he was treated for a bruised shoulder and cuts on his legs.

Meanwhile, Shamrock’s owners Paul and Theresa Flores, and their children, Steven, 8, and Jaclyn , 7, searched their neighborhood looking for the dog.

“We’ve had him for seven years,” Paul Flores said. “It was an awful feeling to know that I wouldn’t see him again.”

But through the efforts of a local animal rescue group that tracked the dog using a tattoo of his national guide dog registry number, Shamrock was reunited Wednesday with the family who adopted him when he flunked out of guide dog school.

“He’s a very good dog,” Theresa Flores said. “He means a lot to us.”

So much, in fact, the Flores children constantly asked their parents about Shamrock’s whereabouts.

“We couldn’t drive anywhere without them looking out the window for Shamrock,” Paul Flores said. “They kept asking me, ‘Do you think he’s going to come back?’ ”

Shamrock made his way back to the Floreses after he was rescued July 31 from the shelter by volunteers from Southern California Labrador Retriever Rescue.

The animal rescue group found a foster home for Shamrock only days before he was scheduled to be euthanized because no one had come to claim him, group members said.

City animal services general manager Dan Knapp said, “The policy is for animal control officers to look for tattoos, microchips and licenses. In this case, the officer noted the number on a card, but did not make the follow-up call.”

Knapp said officials intend to review the policy with officers again.

Physician Andrew Lesser, a volunteer with the animal rescue group, took in Shamrock until a permanent home could be found. Lesser tended Shamrock’s wounds and took him to a groomer, where about 50 ticks were removed from the dog’s coat.

While caring for Shamrock, Lesser said he discovered two sets of numbers tattooed on the dog’s inner thigh--an original breeder number and a Guide Dogs of America registry number.

Lesser dialed the association’s toll-free number and gave them Shamrock’s number. The association confirmed that Shamrock had been adopted by the Floreses in 1992. Lesser then called the Floreses and arranged for Wednesday’s meeting.

But Paul Flores wanted to surprise his children, he said, so he didn’t let on that Shamrock was on his way home.

About 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, Lesser parked his covered pickup truck in front of the Floreses’ ranch house, shook hands with the couple and dropped the tailgate as they moved in to hug and pat their dog.

A few moments later, Theresa Flores went into the house to get Steven and Jaclyn. As the children stepped onto the sidewalk, they appeared overwhelmed by the camera crews.

But when they saw Shamrock, the speechless children smiled broadly and hung on his neck.

“They cried all the time while he was gone,” Theresa Flores said. “Every night we went looking for him. We prayed every night that he would come home. Thank God, and Dr. Lesser, we found him.”