Submitted by Deb Dempsey Co-Owner of Mouthful's Pet Boutique, located in Denver, CO www.mouthfuls.net
Picture this scenario: You pull into your driveway after work to discover your gate is open and your beloved dog is nowhere to be found. Do you know what steps to take to improve the chances of finding your best friend? I encourage you to cut out this list of what to do if your dog is missing and file it with your animal's vet records, but let's hope you never need it!
1. Check your garage, home and any outbuildings on your property to see if your dog was accidentally shut in.
2. Begin canvassing the neighborhood with as many people as you can gather to help. Take your pet's favorite treats with you and shake the package as you call his name. Be sure to ask anyone you come into contact with if they've seen your pet.
3. Ask someone to call your vet, emergency vet hospitals, local animal shelters, rescues and animal control. If you know your neighbors, include them as well. (It's a great idea to keep a list like this current in your files.)
4. Write a post on www.craigslist.org announcing a lost dog. Search that day's postings to see if someone put something on about a found dog. Local newspapers often keep "found dogs" on their Web-based classifieds.
6. Print up flyers using a current photo of your dog and a detailed description. Post them everywhere you can think of within a 2-mile radius. Make sure you include vet's offices, dog parks, dog groomers, dog washes, pet boutiques and doggy daycares. Pet owners will be more sympathetic to your cause and often will bring "found" dogs to one of these places rather than the local shelter.
7. Physically go and check the local pounds and shelters in the area to see if your dog is there. Phone calls with descriptions are not always enough.
8. If you have a purebred dog, check with the breed-specific rescue for your breed. Many of these groups drive for miles to rescue their specific breed dogs, so call even if they seem far away.
9. Don't give up! Make daily trips to the pounds and shelters, searching for your pet. It may take days for an animal to be picked up and processed.
A relatively new option available to pet owners is a service called www.findtoto.com. This "Amber Alert for pets" sends out an alert to neighbors in your surrounding area including a dog's name, description and owner contact info. This alert registers as FINDTOTO.com on caller ID's so your neighbors won't ignore it as a solicitation. Even if neighbors have signed up on the official "do not call" list, this company is legally allowed to call them. Packages range from $85 to $425 and the alert goes out within about one hour of purchasing a package.
Also check out Amber Alert for Pets at www.amberalertforpets.com, which sends out notifications to hundreds of people to alert them of the lost pet.
Most importantly, make sure that you've maintained up-to-date tags and microchip information on your pet. Don't put it off for one more day!
