TIPS FOR FINDING YOUR LOST PET
It is unfortunate that you have lost your pet. Although finding a lost
animal often seems to depend on luck, there are steps you can take to increase
the chances of recovering your animal. There are no guarantees, but these
strategies have proven most
effective.
1) The first thing you should do when you discover that your pet is absent is
secure your house and yard. Your pet may be simply be hiding under a sofa or
behind a flower bed.
2) Most pets are recovered within 2 miles of their home so the first place to
begin looking is within your own neighborhood. Knock on doors and talk to people
in the neighborhood. People who knock on their neighbor's doors and ask if
anyone has seen their pet, instead of just calling, are more likely to find it.
Most people walk the streets around their home and call their pet. Carry
something with you to attract your pet. When a pet gets lost, it is
usually frightened, and a scared pet under a car for example, may not come when
its name is called, but will respond to food. Use the word you usually employ to
let your pet know it is dinner time.
3) Hand out fliers with your pet's picture on them and your phone number. Fliers
need only have a clear photo of the animal and a telephone number that someone
will answer or that is hooked to an answering machine. A picture is truly worth a thousand words and a color picture is worth
more.
4) One of the first agencies you should contact is your pet's veterinary clinic.
Veterinary clinics receive lots of calls regarding lost and found pets and most
have a bulletin board, notebook or website where they list these reports.
You should provide the clinic with as much information as possible and give them
a recent photo of your pet.
5) Another agency you should call is your local police department. Most cities
will have an Animal Rescue department within the police or fire department. If
someone sees a stray pet in their yard they may call the police and ask for assistance in removing the pet. Go to all the local shelters and the government agencies charged with picking
up stray and lost animals (e.g. city pound) and look for yourself, at least every other day.
Calling the animal control department or shelter on the phone is not very
effective. Your pet may not yet be listed in the records at the front desk, and
the way you describe your pet may not be the way a shelter/pound describes your dog.
Any animal may become dirty, matted and neglected looking very quickly, and you
must visit the shelter/pound, even if your pet was wearing tags when it was lost.
You will need to go to the shelter/pound at least every other day because few shelters
or pounds can
keep animals for more than 72 hours. Sometimes it takes more than a few days for
a pet to be picked up and brought to a shelter. It is important to visit
all the shelters within 20 miles of where your pet was lost. In many areas stray
animals are picked up by a government agency which holds them for a period and
then turns them over to a shelter or veterinary clinic. If someone took your pet in for a few days
hoping you would knock on their door and ask about it, they might later drop
your pet off at the shelter that's most convenient for them, rather the one
that's closest.
What to do next...
Put an ad in the local paper, and in the papers in surrounding areas. Some
people only look in the newspaper to locate an animal's owner. Be sure to
look in the Found column of the local newspapers yourself. If someone has found your pet, they may choose to advertise to locate
the owner.
Some school newspapers accept advertising. If this is the case, in
the area where you lost your pet, do consider advertising in the school
newspaper. Not only will you be giving money to a good cause, but children are
very observant and are a good source for recovering your pet.
Ask businesses that people who live in the area are likely to use to put up a
copy of your flier. This includes gas stations, fast food restaurants, convenience and grocery stores. Ask if you can put a copy of your flier up
in the pet food aisle. If someone picks up your animal and holds it for a few
days hoping you will find them just as your pet did, they will need food.
Contact local rescue organizations and give them copies of your flier. People
who are afraid animals will be euthanized if they turn them over to the shelter
might contact a rescue agency, and rescue people often go through local shelters
looking for animals they can help place in new homes.
Give copies of your flier to groomers, trainers and pet stores and ask them to
put them up. Give copies of your flier to people that walk their dogs in
the area - they are more likely to spot animals than most people.
Check with the highway departments. You will need
to check city or town, county and provincial roads departments, as well as the
animal control agencies. Pictures or a copy of your flier should be left with
each department. Again, calling is seldom successful, and actually visiting the
department is the best way. You should check back once a week.
After You Find Your Pet...
Now that you have recovered you pet, remove all the signs that you have posted. Kindly thank all the businesses and
neighbors that allowed you to put up signs. A
note or small token is not out of line. If you have placed ads to run for any
length of time, cancel those and ask for a rebate if possible. Notify the
agencies you contacted that your pet has been found so they can update their
file.
So That It Doesn't Happen Again...
All pets should wear a collar and name tag with the your phone number and/or a city tag and veterinary tag (i.e. rabies tag) - even house pets or those on the farm. Microchipping is also recommended since it provides a method of positive identification even if your pet loses its collar. Veterinary clinics and shelters routinely check incoming stray pets for a microchip. Prevention is usually the best idea.
Consider how your pet escaped in the first place. Repair fences and mend any escape routes, taking measures to prevent its repeat escape.