From CA to Michigan and back: Choco the dachsie’s long, strange trip home
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Dog’s microchip registration enabled cross-country reunification after 1,645 days
- Volunteers, shelter staff and donors coordinated transport, care and flights
- Case highlights microchip efficacy and owner vigilance as a recovery model
Five years ago, Choco vanished.
One day, the wire-haired dachshund mix was home in Antelope. The next, he was gone. Adopted in 2016 at 18 months old, he had been a treasured companion until he disappeared in 2021.
There was no goodbye and no clues, just an empty space where a chocolate-covered dachsie used to be.
The details of what happened next — the miles, the dates, the improbable turns — were pieced together from a trail of Facebook posts shared since Nov. 24 by Helping Paws and Claws, the tiny Loomis-based nonprofit that raised money to help bring Choco home.
“I’m a retired animal control officer for Sacramento County, in Folsom, so this was pretty near and dear to my heart,” said Cindy Walden, a founding board member of the nonprofit. “This dog was microchipped, the owner had kept the information current and then this dog mysteriously shows up 2,300 miles away.”
Choco’s owner, Patricia Orozco, never stopped hoping. It just took 1,645 days to get the notification.
Late last month, Choco reappeared not in Sacramento County, not even in California, but nearly 2,300 miles away. He was discovered tied to a fence outside a small animal shelter in Lincoln Park, Michigan, near Detroit.
How he got there remains a mystery. Planes? Cars? Kind strangers? Bad decisions? Choco isn’t telling.
What he did have was a microchip.
The shelter scanned it. They contacted Orozco, and just like that, a dog lost since May 2021 was suddenly found.
“It reinforces everything that I did for 20 years, trying to educate people how important microchips are and what difference they can make for your loved pets,” Walden said.
Walden and her team at Helping Paws and Claws spotted a post from Orozco asking the big question: What now?
The answer turned into a cross-country operation.
The Lincoln Park Animal Shelter agreed to continue caring for Choco, ensuring its contracted vet was able to care for him. The veterinarian donated his services, Walden said, and a local animal control officer helped transport him to the airport. Then a volunteer travel companion — Choco’s designated human — booked flights, packed an airline-approved carrier, checked ID tags and made sure the little dachsie was cleared for take-off.
Helping Paws and Claws began raising funds to cover the journey and worked with Patricia’s family back home to ensure Choco’s yard was secure.
“Choco is what we call a ‘door dasher,’ and not the kind that delivers food” Walden said. “If the door was open, he would sprint out.”
Since he disappeared, Orozco had added a fence, and Walden visited the home, talking through potential problem areas with Orozco. Walden went one step further: She called the Invisible Fence company where they still recognized her name, and the owner agreed to install an invisible fence perimeter at no charge to protect Choco.
With all that planning in place, Walden set the wheels in motion for Choco’s return in early December.
The little sprinter left Michigan for California with a checklist worthy of a seasoned traveler: flight booked; harness secured, ID tags attached, health cleared, ride to the airport arranged. By then, he was on his way to celebrity status with the nickname Choco Latte.
The trip didn’t go perfectly. Flight delays forced Choco and his travel partner to spend the night in Chicago — a layover neither of them had planned. But on the morning of Dec. 3, they boarded again, heading west.
Later that day, after nearly five years away, Choco was home.
Helping Paws and Claws shared the news simply: Choco was back with his family after being missing for more than four and a half years, all because his microchip was registered and the information current.
The nonprofit said Choco’s unbelievable journey carries a simple message: one echoing across the United States and internationally as Orozco and Choco’s story has been retold by People magazine, the Washington Post and other media: Microchips work if you keep them updated.
