"Bear" disappeared from his home in Metairie in December of 2007.

Someone found him here in Bay County yesterday.

This story is a testament to the perseverance of bear, and the worth of technology.

Bear has a micro chip implanted just above his shoulders that contains his owner's name and number.

Without that locator micro chip bear probably wouldn't be making his way back to Louisiana.

Meet bear he's a little dirty, and hungry, but he's still full of life.

Bear made a long trip from Metairie Louisiana, before he was finally picked up in Springfield.

Jim Crosby with Bay County Animal Control said, "We micro-chipped him and sure enough the original owners had micro-chipped him and registered it."

It took some investigative work, but animal control officers were able to locate bear's owner from the information on the chip.

"The owners we spoke to were thrilled, in fact the owner and her sister were crying on the telephone they were so glad to hear, because they thought bear was gone forever."

Without it they wouldn't have any idea where bear was from, because his collar didn't survive his 300 mile journey.

Crosby added, "It's very unusual and the whole reason we can do this is because of the micro-chip. These folks when they adopted him in 2004 had him micro chipped, and registered the chip. As a result we're able to get them back together."

A good wash, and cut, and bear should be back to his old self, and on his way home.

"Real glad we're able to send bear home, because so many animals that get lost we're never able to return them," added Crosby.

Bear is just one of hundreds of cases of animals that go missing, and most don't have this happy ending.

Bear is going to make another long trip, this time back to Louisiana, and in the comfort of his owner's car.

Amanda Wells is on her way to Bay County.

She's expected to arrive sometime Friday and take bear home.

For more information on Micro-Chips visit http://www.microchipidsystems.com/
or
Call Bay County Animal Control at (850)767-3333