Lynchburg Humane Society Blog

What to do when you lose your pet? It is unfortunate, but most people don’t start by calling their local animal shelters to see if their pet has shown up there and to place a lost pet report. Only 1 percent of the stray cats we take in go back to their owner — last year that was only eight cats. Our dog rate is much better and is currently around 45 percent. But you wouldn’t believe how many purebred dogs and cats come in here with no one calling about them. By law, we have to hold a stray animal without a collar five days, but we typically hold them for seven; with a collar, it is 10 days, but we usually hold them for 12. We try to give owners ample time to find their pet and are always disappointed when they don’t come. There are several measures that can be used in order to find your pet more quickly. Tags are important because if an animal control officer or a private citizen finds your pet they can contact you directly and the pet never has to come to a shelter. Mic

I was recently watching one of my son's cartoon shows with him this weekend and they had an animal control officer playing the bad guy, trying to catch a dog that was running lost. And it struck me that many shows portray this job in a negative light. So I thought it was time to talk about all the good that Animal Control Officers do to help the animals in our community. Yes, the owners of the dogs running lost may not appreciate getting tickets or having their dog picked up. But, the alternative is that their dog gets injured and they have major medical costs involved. And when there are injured lost dogs or cats they make sure they get the medical care they need to stay alive. Animal control officers keep animals safe. They also investigate cases of neglect and abuse. Just the other day they had a dog that was discovered with a large logging chain embedded in his neck. The wound was very deep and appeared to be months old. They charged the owner with cruelty and took the