Lost/Found Pets

On New Years Eve a nice Golden Retriever showed up at our door. Over the next couple of days we saw tons of lost & found pets being posted online. I thought this is a good time to remind everyone what to do if you lose or find a pet.

The key to getting a pet home is in getting the word out there and keep getting it out there. Assuming you’ve looked for ID tags, here are the places you should call.

Local SPCA or animal shelter

Nearby vet offices

Emergency vet clinic

Animal services

They will want to know what breed (make your best guess). Check both ears for a tattoo. If you cannot read it, put some peroxide on a cotton ball then wipe the tattoo, the letters and numbers will brighten up.

If the animal appears injured in any way, take it to the nearest vet clinic.

Is it male or female? Neutered? If it is a female, a spay scar might be visible on its belly. Again, peroxide will make it easier to see.

If you can, take it to a nearby vet clinic and have them check for a microchip.

Social media is great for reuniting owners and pets. Make sure when you post the picture of the pet you find online, you change the settings so that it’s visible to the public. You will want to share it with your friends. Also find the facebook pages for pet stores, groomers, doggy daycares & trainers in your community, ask them to share the picture. Send it out on Twitter. Call radio stations and ask them to share it too.

You can post ads on places like Kijiji, Craigslist as well. The more you post, the better your chances. If you live in a smaller community taxi companies and pizza delivery folks know just about everyone in town, call them too.

The easiest way to ensure your pet finds his way home is to make sure it has a tag on its collar with your phone number on it. Your cell phone is best; then if you are on vacation, somebody isn’t calling your home trying to reach you. Also, rabies tags, licenses etc are extremely helpful, but only effective during office hours.

It’s extremely frustrating for pets & owners alike to be away from each other. Hopefully, that will never happen to you. But if you do the things mentioned here, it’ll help speed up the process.

On a side note, the dog that showed up at our house, had a tag on, but being New Years Eve, they were closed, and weren’t open on Jan 1 either. So Facebook saved the day. Everybody kept sharing his picture until finally a friend of his family saw it. Ozzy was back home with his family only 16 hours after he disappeared.