Dog back in Calif. after 1,400-mile trek

Microchip implanted in dog identified pet when he was found in Texas

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updated 2:33 p.m. ET Dec. 18, 2006

DOWNEY, Calif. - Kobe the terrier is back with his family after a 1,400-mile trip. The small white pooch vanished from his Bellflower home last month and was found by a stranger in Denton, Texas. A microchip implanted in his neck contained his owner's information.

AVID, a Norco-based company that produced the chip, flew Kobe from Texas to California and on Thursday he was reunited with his owners, the Ontiveros family, at the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority in Downey.

“I’m really happy,” said Stephanie Ontiveros, 12.

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“We’re glad that there were plenty of good, helpful people out there,” said her father, Jayson Ontiveros.

Kobe got the chip when the Ontiveros family adopted him from the SAACA.

How he got to Texas remains a mystery.

A driver may have spotted Kobe wandering, thought he was a stray and took him along, animal control authority spokesman Aaron Reyes said.

AVID Vice President Peter Troesch said his company’s chips are implanted in some 2 million cats and dogs in the country. Because to the chips, he said, an average of 1,200 stray animals a day are returned to their homes.