Animal Welfare insiders report that finding your friend takes strong determination, luck, and a lot of work. Pets that go missing are one in three in their lifetime. The number of animals ending up in local shelters and reunited with their parents varies within communities. Surveying over 2000 shelters nationwide, The Best Friends Animal Society determined that 21% of the pets were returned to their homes in 2021.
There are many well-run databases, missing pet websites, and social media pages to assist with helping locate your furry friend. Many dogs would be returned home with a centralized official site for all existing shelters. The communication gap can leave you never seeing your pet again. We need to create a better system to assist pet owners in finding their pets. Since there is no centralized office site, the burden is on you to locate your pet.
Listed below are websites for missing pets:
1.) www.pawboost.com
3.) www.rcdas.org
5.) https://lost.petcolove.org
(Veterinarians partner with Petco to search for lost and found pets.)
Experts suggest: Mobilize helpers - Call in favors since you need assistance. Get a small army going at once. Have your friends, neighbors, and friends on social media to help. Have them check the neighborhood for your pet, looking in backyards (with permission) and any space your pet might hide. They can also distribute flyers with pictures of your pet and check with local shelters. Start searching ASAP! Start looking in their favorite places. If your pet is fearful, don't call them with a panic voice; they will pick up on it. Don't call their name; instead, sing to them. Singing relaxes everyone. Your pet will hear you.
Try cameras, traps, and food. Should your pet take off into a specific neighborhood, put out the food and a motion-activated camera. If it captures a picture of your dog, you will know they are still in the area. Contact a pet detective or animal control officer to set up a humane trap to catch your dog. Leave something familiar for them, like their bedding, carrier, or clothing, with your perfume. Dogs have a wonderful sense of smell. There are incidents where owners and friends search for hours, then leave and return in the morning, and their pet is in the parking lot where they have left an item for them.
Ensure your pet has a microchip and your information is correct at the microchip company. That way, you will find your pet much sooner. Go BIG with lost dog signs! Use five words drivers can read in five seconds as people drive by. Use a two-foot-wide and neon color for a post with keywords and phone numbers.
To avoid loss:
1.) Keep fences and gates secure.
2.) Train your pet to come when called.
3.) Use a GPS tracking device to track your pet's whereabouts.
Keep Posting! Keep Searching Daily! There's Always Hope! Don't Give Up!
