When I opened today’s paper, the front page featured the ecstatic reunion between Denise Shepard and her Boston Terrier Frankie [3]. He had been missing for three months. During that time, the little guy somehow managed to travel 200 miles from his home in Battle Creek, Michigan, to a suburb of Chicago. A tiny microchip in Frankie’s neck allowed this story to have a happy ending.

Of course, I’m thrilled to see pet-owner reunions--we had one with our naughty black cat last summer--but when I read this morning’s headline, I thought, “Really, another one?” It seems like everywhere I look--newspapers, magazines, blogs, TV, Facebook--someone is reuniting with their lost pet. Are there more reunions due to microchips, pet detectives via the Internet, or is it simply more media coverage?

My cynical self knows that human interest stories involving pets sell papers, but is it possible that the mainstream media is recognizing how important our pets are to us? That they are worthy of making the front page because they are beloved family members and not “just” a dog?

Have you ever been reunited with a lost pet? If so, did you use Facebook or the Internet to help with the search? Did the media cover your reunion?