Missing Maltese Dog Returns To Michigan Home After Fatal Crash

TUCUMCARI, N.M (AP) -- A Maltese dog named Caesar who disappeared more than a year ago after a car crash that killed two members of its owning family in eastern New Mexico is on his way home to Michigan.

The Quay County Sun reports Wednesday ( http://bit.ly/qGosd6 ) that Caesar was found by a volunteer looking for adoptable dogs at a shelter in Tucumcari. She was able to track down his owner, Monica Benson, after Caesar was scanned for a microchip.

Benson, who lost her husband and a daughter in the accident, said her four surviving children are very excited and have made "welcome home" posters for Caesar.

"This has been the best news we have received in a year," she said.

Caesar left Tucumcari this week for Clio, Mich.

The Benson family was traveling westbound on Interstate 40 near Tucumcari on June 15, 2010, when their 2001 Chevrolet mini-van overturned.

Gary and Emily Benson died from injuries in the accident. One of the other children, then-18-month-old Benjamin, was placed in an intensive care unit.

"While Benjamin was in the ICU, we placed picture of him and Caesar on the walls," Monica Benson told the newspaper.

Benson said the family returned to the accident and tried to find Caesar.

"It has been so hard," Monica Benson said. "There are pictures all over the house, and Benjamin would point at them and ask, `Where's Caesar?'"

Mike Martinez, animal control supervisor for Tucumcari, said a family dropped off Caesar on Thursday, saying they were moving and could no longer care for him.

Christina Flemming, a member of the Tucumcari Animal Rescue Group, found Caesar at the Tucumcari animal shelter on Friday.

After his chip was scanned, she said she called the number attached to the chip to find it had been disconnected. But she told the newspaper something didn't seem right, so she went online to try and find the family and found an article about the accident.

"I found the obituary and contacted the funeral home in Michigan," Flemming said. "A woman named Rhonda helped me to get in contact with Caesar's owners."

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Comments

[MISCONDUCKT]

05:29 AM on 08/13/2011

Happy for both family and dog, shame on the people who found this dog for not trying to return him to his family, it would have taken one simple wave of the wand to know he was loved and lost

[desertdreamer]

08:14 PM on 08/12/2011

A wonderful ending to a tragic story! The same thing happened to my sister-in-law and her husband after a car accident a couple years ago in MI. Fortunately, there were no fatalities. Their sweet dog ran off and despite relentless searches, they couldn't find him. Weeks later a kind-hearted woman found him wandering along a road and took him to her vet. The chip was scanned, and all were reunited.

[Chlowina]

03:30 PM on 08/12/2011

Very very cool. A bit of sunshine for the family.

[Jenna Bean]

03:06 PM on 08/12/2011

this is a really touching story, but after reading two or more misspelled words I had to just stop....seriously HuffPo?

[Chlowina]

03:31 PM on 08/12/2011

Fanned just for your Bio. With you all the way.

[jojothedoggirl]

05:30 PM on 08/12/2011

They can misspell every word . All I need to see is dog returned home after a year . There's nothing I like better than a dog that's returned home . Having owned so many and loved them so much to think of them being lost would have broken my heart. Especially the one in my pic. Gone 4 years now after 18 years of unqualified love . I still miss you Baby , wait for me by the Rainbow Bridge .

[Christine Shaw]

02:35 PM on 08/12/2011

What a happy reunion after such a deep tragedy. I'm so happy for this family that they could be reunited with their beloved pet! Microchipping your pets can really make miracles possible! Here's a list of Microchip Resources: http://www.foundanimals.or​g/pet-identification/micro​chipping/where-can-i-get-p​et-microchip

[Max Shaw]

01:12 PM on 08/12/2011

This is a heart-warming end to this story! I needed this today! :)

[Quay Quaycountyanimals]

11:59 AM on 08/12/2011

Hello everyone,
Just wanted to clarify a few things:
Our rescue group in Tucumcari is all volunteer, I do not work for the shelter, I am a high school science teacher.
The shelter checks for microchips, but invalid contacts end their search. We can do more as we are a group of volunteers who believe deeply in what we do and are not bound by hourly wages, admin restrictions etc..!
The family who turned the dog in should not be faulted. Until we started this group 2 years ago ALL dogs unclaimed at the shelter here were destroyed. There was no adoption program per se. They turned the dog in KNOWING that a program was in place to get their dogs a better life. Tucumcari has dozens of stray, lovely, little dogs like Cesar.
The Benson's searched for Cesar for months but assumed he was dead. After a year they moved and as a now single mother of 4, I can't imagine that updating a microchip contact on a presumed deceased dog was a big priority. She is a wonderful mother and a nice person.
If you want to make a difference, ADOPT a dog. We have a petfinder page, shelter ID NM144. The other small dogs rescued with Cesar that day are still available and need homes as much as Cesar needed his.
Thank you for supporting animal rescue and thank you for the kind commensts!
Christina Fleming

[jojothedoggirl]

05:31 PM on 08/12/2011

Rescue = the only way to go . Believe it all the way .

[foreverstudy]

09:22 PM on 08/12/2011

Thank you. It's cool you could clear those things up - I was wondering about the shelter and why they didn't get hold of the owner. Now I see....... no one at fault here.

[Lori Woods]

11:44 AM on 08/12/2011

The obvious question here, is why didn't the Tucumcari shelter scan the dog?

[Maggie2004]

08:52 AM on 08/12/2011

I love happy endings in animal stories, especially dogs. I'm so happy for this family. I have five strays, including one very overweight labrador retriever who appeared on my porch one late Sunday evening in March, 2008. After posting flyers, putting her on the local news, and asking everyone I knew if they had heard of a lost dog, I came to the conclusion that I had one more very large dog to care for. She is still here. She has cost me an arm and a leg in vet bills, but that can't compare to the love and loyalty to of this big girl. I should have named her shadow because she doesn't let me out of her sight, but instead I named her Mady Grace, a beautiful name for a beautiful dog. I'll save the stories of the other four for a later post.

[flyingtiger]

11:25 PM on 08/11/2011

Its nice to know there are still good people left in this world.The woman who help find this little dogs owners is a saint in my book.

[Kitten Kramer]

02:58 AM on 08/12/2011

F*F...flyingtiger...your so right about that, it is nice to see kind people in this crazy world, kudos to the woman who tracked that baby down and got him home.

[fd909]

09:52 PM on 08/11/2011

Well this is good. How nice to see a happy story make the news. Bravo to the lady who took the time and effort to get the pooch home.

[rosasturtles1]

09:48 PM on 08/11/2011

how happy to hear he is home with his family...i too lost a dog(chihuahua),but mine was kidnapped..i got him back after a very long week....be happy..so sorry to hear about your loved ones....

[choda]

10:02 PM on 08/11/2011

that was my chihuahua before i gave it to you,thats why he 'ran away' back to my house Marie

[pisc367]

08:54 PM on 08/11/2011

My husband and I own a lovable lab mix. Rio was a birthday present to my husband from his parents 10 years ago, when Rio was only 2 months old. On March 18, 2008, someone stole him out of our back yard kennel. We posted pictures with our phone number for 3 months around town. Had a few sightings, searched but never found him. Then, on April 19, 2010, my husband was out hunting on property next door to his parents. Lo and behold, he saw 2 dogs running across a field, and one looked like Rio. Kevin laid done his weapon, yelled "Rio". The big dog stopped. Kevin yelled "Rio" again. Needless to say, Rio came at Kevin at a full run and knocked Kevin down and just licked and licked Kevin. Rio was SO happy to see his "daddy". Plus, Rio was found only a few hundred yards from where he was born. We know it is Rio cause of personality traits including that he sits on your feet and then leans into you, nearly knocking you over. Our whole family is happy to have Rio back. My son heard him barking over the phone and said, "Yup, that's Rio!".
I'm happy this family found a lost "family member" but sad that the WHOLE family won't see the dog's return home. God bless the familly.

[CommmSense]

08:36 PM on 08/11/2011

nice

[warrencoons]

07:57 PM on 08/11/2011

A dog and a happy ending.This is good.