This story begins when our Stafford bitch, Kizzy, was stolen from our garden. When we realised she was missing, we phoned the police, the dog wardens, the RSPCA and loads of different kennels to see if she had been picked up, or if someone had handed her in anywhere, but there was nothing. We drove round the streets looking for her, asking people if they had seen her. We put up posters on lamp posts and in shop windows but still we had no luck. Two weeks later we had a phone call from the dog wardens who said they had found Kizzy. She had been run over by a car and her back was broken with the impact. She also had head injuries, so they had put her to sleep.

We were devastated and asked if we could see her, but they said no as they had already disposed of her body. We had to learn to live without her, but it was hard for a very long time. She was out of our sight but never forgotten.

Then out of the blue, we had a phone call on the 16th May 2005. It was Cliff Kennels in Penistone saying they had our dog. We told them we were not missing any dog. The lady said that she had a chip and is registered to your name, address and telephone number. We asked the lady what colour she was and she said brindle. We told her we had a brindle bitch once but she was stolen three and a half years ago, then the dog wardens told us that she had been killed. The lady asked us what we called our bitch so we told her 'Kizzy' and the the lady told us that this was Kizzy. The hairs on our arms stood on end and we felt sick and startedshaking, but we went straight to the kennels. We wanted to get there as soon as possible but on the motorway Nigel couldn't go over 50mph as he was shaking so much.

We arrived at the kennels, and were asked what proof we had brought with us to say Kizzy was ours. We showed them Kizzy's photos and KC registration and pedigree as we had kept them, not having the heart to throw them away. Where had Kizzy been for all that time?

They brought Kizzy to us, it was wonderful to see her again, but she didnt recognise us. She was thin and look frail. We paid the kennel their picking up fee and left, taking Kizzy home with us.

A week later and Kizzy showed signs of recognising us, but she is still very subdued. Kizzy is not the bubly dog we once had, but we dont know what she has been through, we were just glad to have her back.

We have to police looking into this to try and find out where she has been, we do know that six months previous someone had tried to change her chip but were unable to do so as they didnt have the original paperwork..

Microchipping does work, with out this Kizzy would not be back with her rightful owners who love her. Surely it is worth paying out a few pounds to safegaurd the identity of the dog and its owners.