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. Microchips are good for shelters, vets and animal control but private citizens wouldn’t have a scanner. If you do have a microchip it is so important to make sure the information is updated when you move or change numbers. Tattoos are good as well and there are now new GPS collars that allow you to track your lost pet. They are reasonably priced for the service you get and if you have a chronic lost pet issue, it will save you money in the long run.
So what do you do when you have lost your pet?
I hope most people know the basics, which are to talk to neighbors, canvass the area with flyers and contact your local animal control/humane society to see if it came there. Put up large, bright posters around the neighborhood with a short description and contact information. Call your local vets (including emergency vets) in case it was hurt and came to them. Put an ad in the paper and Craigslist and send an e-mail to everyone you know.
A special trick with cats, because they are usually not very far away and can be hiding in a bush or under a porch or crawl space at night, is to take a flashlight and shine it around to see if you can catch the glowing eyes of the cat. Many owners have found their beloved cat this way.
We have entered into the technology age and with our new animal sheltering software, you can go onto our website (www.lynchburghumanesociety.org) and under “Services” you will see “Lost and Found.” The public is now able to see all of the dogs and cats that have come into the shelter as strays the minute they are entered into our system. This is a wonderful tool for owners who can check daily to see if their pet is here.
We always encourage owners seeking a lost pet to come down in person and see if their animal is here, because what we may call a hound mix, you might call a shepherd mix.
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