URGENT: Your Pet Can Travel Further Than You Think
Municipal shelters do NOT share information with each other! If your pet is out there, get out there! Time is if the essence!
Please note if you are currently looking for a missing pet, animals can travel far in a short period of time, especially larger dogs and fully-flighted birds. Cats can accidentally be transported via automobile. Your pet can be picked up by another party who may bring them to their town shelter, and/or lose them in another area miles away. A disgruntled nearby resident who does not like your frequently loose animal on their property, can purposely capture your pet and drop them off (loose) at a far off location or at a distant town shelter. Frightening, but these things happen all the time.
Please be sure to visit animal shelters in the surrounding jurisdictions frequently as new animals arrive daily. Bring proof-of-ownership with you and your pet's Rabies vaccination record if it is current. If your pet needs a Rabies vaccine and is located at a shelter, they may need to be immunized first before you can redeem them.
Be sure to find out what the stray hold policy is (the length of time they hold an animal for an owner to claim, before they evaluate the pet for adoption) for each shelter and be mindful of that when visiting. If the stray hold is five days, do not let five days elapse without visiting again to see if your pet was brought in since your last visit. You do not want your pet adopted out after a stray hold expires. You must personally visit as many shelters as possible, or at least call each one. See if you can fax a photo/flyer to be attached to your lost pet report if you cannot get there. Don't see your pet during your walk-through? Make sure you ask if any animals are not in their pens due to veterinarian medical evaluations/procedures, or out with a volunteer. Sometimes shelter staff will allow animals to visit with them in offices and other areas of the shelter. Inquire about pets reported to them being held by the public.
Can't get there? Keep in mind that misinformation over the phone can be a factor as shelter staff are overwhelmed unfortunately with the never-ending evolving door of animals in and out. It happens, although caring staff members will try and do their best. Do not rely on shelter staff to remember that your male grey Tabby is lost, or that your black and white Pit mix is out there if an animal matching your pet's description arrives just because you reported them. Especially as time goes on. You are the advocate for your pet...be proactive, it is up to you.
URGENT: Do not let breed identification/classification stop you from visiting a shelter, especially when it comes to mixed breeds.
For example: So you were told that they currently do not have a male Staffordshire mix as you identified your dog. Well maybe they are listing him as a Boxer mix or the Good Samaritan that is holding onto your pet reported him as a different breed than what you think your pet is.
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