Finding a lost pet

A quick, organized response can help when an owner hunts for a missing friend.

Samantha is a friendly, well-behaved Rottweiler mix who's not prone to getting into trouble. She's usually happy to hang around the office at Sampson Siding and Roofing near New Castle with her owner, Greg Sampson.

But in late September something made her nervous, and she bolted away in an unsupervised moment. Sampson took immediate action: "I drove around all day," he said. "I called the SPCA, called the police, put up posters, ran an ad in The News Journal."

Sampson says he put up at least 50 color posters (with a photo and description of Samantha plus four contact numbers) in a one-mile radius of the office. He also offered a $500 reward for the 7-year-old dog, a favorite companion of his young daughter.

Experts say those were all the right things to do when a pet is lost, and they are most effective when done quickly. Given time, a dog can make its way 10 or 15 miles from home, decreasing the odds of spotting a lost animal. Most animal shelters hold animals for less than a week before releasing them for adoption. The longer a pet is on the run, the greater the chances it might become ill or injured.

Sampson was lucky: Samantha was recovered five days later, picked up by a young woman who then looked for a "lost" notice in the paper. She also refused the reward.

Sometimes pet owners do all the right things without such an immediate result. Lisa Jack, of North East, Md., is still looking for a gray-and-brown tiger-stripe cat named BJ who's been missing since May 2005. She estimated she's put out 500 fliers with no results yet.

"I think she's still alive," Jack said. "Somebody else has her."

With six dogs and six cats that occasionally stray and a penchant for picking up others' lost animals, Jack has a system. "I'm famous for putting a lost animal sign on my mailbox," she said. "I've had the best results from newspaper ads and signs. You have to make them big, so people can read them from their car. I've recovered a dog that was lost for three weeks."

Perseverance does sometimes pay off, experts say. Some people might pick up a lost pet and delay turning it over to a shelter, or the animal may be farther from home than anyone anticipated. Widening the search can help.

Role of animal shelters

If an owner is lucky, a lost pet will end up at an animal shelter, shortening the odds for recovery. The Humane Society of the United States says 30 percent of dogs brought to shelters are returned to their owners.

Permanent identification through implanted microchips helps, along with a Web site that posts photos and information for dogs picked up by animal control officers.

When Sharan Duren's son found a beagle at the Boyds Corner park-and-ride lot Sept. 28, he used his belt for a leash and took the smallish, older male dog to the family's home in Odessa, where he spent the night on the front porch. The next day, Duren called the Kent County SPCA, which sent an officer to pick up the dog.

His processing was typical -- he was examined for illness or injury and would have been treated if necessary. Shelter employees look for calls that have come in about lost dogs and put the animal's photo on the Web site. Healthy dogs with no ID are held for four days before they're put up for adoption; with ID, for six days.
 
Some dogs go to rescue groups or foster homes, those that are deemed unadoptable are euthanized. Most are held indefinitely for adoption, sometimes for six or seven months, although the average stay is seven to 10 days.

The beagle stayed for four days before his owner came and took him home.

IF YOUR PET IS LOST

• Act quickly.

• Create posters and fliers that have a photo of the animal and large print. Make the description accurate, but not too detailed, says pet detective Laura Totis. That way, people will call if they've gotten just a glimpse of the animal. Cover a much bigger area than you think, and not necessarily in a straight line. Animals can travel across fields and through woods.

• Call the local SPCA and animal hospitals with your pet's description.

• Put an ad in the local paper; they are free in some publications.

• Go to the spot your pet was lost at the same time; interview truck drivers, mail carriers or other people who might be regulars there.

• Enlist a pet detective.

TO KEEP YOUR PET SAFE

Make sure your pet wears a collar with ID tags at all times. Consider getting a microchip implanted, then register the number and keep your personal information updated. Many shelters offer low-cost microchipping.

Keep your pet's vaccinations current; the animal could end up in quarantine if it doesn't have its rabies vaccination or it could be more susceptible to illness in a shelter without immunizations.

Keep a photo of your pet and its medical records handy; at a shelter, you'll need them to prove you're the owner.

Reference: www.delawareonline.com

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