I just got off the phone with my neighbor Gretchen. She had called to say a police officer was at her house with a male chocolate lab who was lost. It wasn't her Zeke, but she was calling a few neighbors before the officer took him to the Humane Society. She knew it wasn't mine, but thought I might know who he belonged to because I'm known in the neighborhood as the animal lady/humane society volunteer and all around helper of animals.
I thought it might be Bella, the Vander Aark's dog, but it wasn't. I told her to have the police officer drive him down to my house and I'd take a look at him to see if I recognized him. A few minutes later Daisy and Dingo erupted into loud barking and I went outside to see him. My husband Tom came out and said it was probably the Jordan's who live across Country Club Road.
Sure enough, Rick Jordan had been looking for him and the very kind police officer drove the dog home. A very happy ending.
Unfortunately, not all endings are this happy. Hundreds of thousands of animals are lost every year, not all are found. Many are hit by cars and suffer unspeakable tragedy and often painful deaths. If you have a pet PLEASE get them licensed, put identification tags on their collars and get them micro-chipped. This saves lives and countless hours worrying. A good site to check out is America's National Lost and Found Database.
If your pet is lost, the first thing to do is call your local police department and report the animal as missing, call friends and neighbors to alert them, call your local animal shelter and any rescues in the area to file a missing report (they want your pet returned to you as well, otherwise they take up space needed by other stray and abandoned animals). Once a report is made, if the animal is found and someone calls, they know to call you, or if the animal is lucky enough to be brought to the shelter, they will call you before the animal gets adopted out (if he's lucky) or PTS'd (Put To Sleep).
If you don't have a dog license, call your local municipality or visit them online to obtain a license. Low-cost micro-shipping is often provided at animal shelters and rescues as well. Check their website for clinic dates and times. Locally, HSHA has them monthly. Many veterinarians are now offering this service to their clients too.

Recent Comments