Community Corner

Volunteers Search for Missing Point Boro Dog

Owners of dogs and cats urged to install microchips in pets

Several volunteers are scouring Point Borough and putting up fliers in what's become a protracted search for a brown spaniel missing since late Friday night.

Ken McKeel, a Howell resident, is driving all over the Borough posting fliers about

McKeel, a retired corrections officer, got the idea to go looking for the Hills' dog when he saw news on Facebook about a missing dog.

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"This seems to be what I do," he said. Last year, he and a few other volunteers found a dog in fine condition after it had been missing for 11 days. It was 10 miles from home and someone had been taking care of it.

On Monday, McKeel and a few volunteers from Brick and Bradley Beach were searching for Xhaiden all over the Borough.

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Like the SPCA, McKeel strongly recommends that owners of dogs and cats have either the SPCA or their veterinarian install a microchip in their pet, something Xhaiden does not have.

Microchipping involves placing a small chip under a pet’s skin. This chip contains the owner's name and contact information, which are also entered into an American Kennel Club database.

If a pet is lost, a scanner can be used to read the pet’s chip and find out who he or she belongs to. Animal control officers, animal shelters and most veterinarians have scanners to read the microchips.

The Monmouth County SPCA in Eatontown does microchipping for $20 per pet and, on Fridays, has a walk-in clinic where microchipping and other services are quickly performed, said Caroline Ismail, a customer service representative at the SPCA. The SPCA also microchips pets prior to adoption. (For more information on microchipping, see the SPCA website.)

McKeel said his veterinarian installed one in his own pet for $25.

"It's not expensive and it's the best way to find your pet if it gets lost," he said.

McKeel was out driving around Monday morning, despite that on Dec. 23, he had a tumor removed from his foot and should have been home with his foot elevated.

When asked if he's in pain, he said, "Yeah, in excruciating pain. I can't walk around looking for the dog. I'm just getting out of the car to put up fliers and getting back in. I can only keep my foot in one position in the car for so long.

"I won't be telling my doctor about this," he said, laughing. "He doesn't need to know."

Yes, he should be home, he acknowledged.

"But I'd rather find this dog," he said.

Melanie Hill, one of the dog owners, said on Monday that she had let their two dogs out in their backyard to do their business on Friday night, thinking they would stay inside the fence.

She said she let them out, without their collars, rather than walking them, because they just needed to relieve themselves. They thought the dogs were safe inside the fence for what was supposed to be a short visit outdoors.

Somehow, about five or 10 minutes after going outside, Xhaiden got out of the fenced-in yard and took off.

"We still don't know how he got loose," she said.

Hill said that in the five years since they first got Xhaiden as a pup, he only got loose one other time.

Hill said the dog was let out at about 10:30 p.m. on Friday and within minutes the dog disappeared. The last reported sighting was around 11 p.m. on Northstream Parkway, across Bridge Avenue from where the family lives, she said.

Xhaiden is a dark, chocolate brown spaniel male and weighs about 45 pounds.

Xhaiden, who is five years old and whom they raised from a puppy, is very friendly and answers to his name, Hill said. The family is offering a reward of $550 for the dog's safe return.

If you have seen the dog, please call Hill at 732-489-2294 or


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