So much of the worry and heartache about losing a pet, as well as the worry and concern when finding one, would be alleviated if people would just do the responsible thing--put a collar and tag (with updated information) on the pet, and microchip too, if possible. It never ceases to amaze me to read all the ads in the newspapers, craigslist, petfinder, and other venues about people so sad and worried about lost pets but who have never taken the time to put a collar and tag on that pet! There are always cats wandering our neighborhood, 99% without collars or tags, so we have no idea if they are pets or homeless. I wish I understood why people who claim to love and care for their pets can't bother to spend a few dollars to put ID on them.

Marita is spot on. Additionally, I suggest that folks get their critters micro-chipped. It was the first thing the vet looked for when I found my abandoned felines and brought them in for health checks. Other than that, I would suggest putting up posters with a photo of the missing pet, plus I would leave one at every vet's office I could find in town. I would definitely put an ad in the newspaper as well.

When I found two three week old kittens on the highway in a duct taped box I knew they were dumped there to be run over. When I found a young cat in an empty dumpster I knew it was there to die. I kept them. I had a cat wander in, she was fully grown, I put up posters and as it turned out she got in a car and the person stopped on my road the cat left the car. I was happy to reunite the cat with it's person. I live rural and most cats and dogs that find me have been dumped to make it on their own.

Marita, you ignored the question posed by this thread. What would you do if your cat escaped from your home, got his collar snagged on a bush and pulled off, and ended up with a "rescuer" who didn't think or bother to take the cat to a vet or shelter equipped to scan for a chip (or if your cat wasn't "rescued" at all)? In your inevitable state of fear, sadness, and panic, what would you do to locate your cat?

You guys are missing the point of my post. I'm trying to get you to put yourselves into the place and mindset of a person who has LOST a beloved pet, and if you don't believe it could ever happen to you, think again! Now come on, BE the person who has lost your most treasured, most deeply loved and connected animal companion. Imagine the state of mind that sort of situation would put you into, and tell me realistically what you believe you would have the presence of mind to do in the attempt to find your companion. Or would you just curl up under the covers and hope to die?

For both lost and found.... Posters, word of mouth, contact vet's offices and animal shelter. Most importantly, talk with the animal control officers and offer pics. They are the ones out and about. Go door to door with pictures. Offer a reward.

And for those of you that become the reluctant owner... don't assume this animal will not become as important as your other pets. Have them micro-chipped. Though that will do you no good if your pet is found and effort isn't put forth to find the owner.

laurief - if you're asking me to go to that level of grief in order to describe my state of mind, I have to tell you that I would rather not. I imagined for months the day that my Sawyer would die and when the day arrived, it was a hundred times worse than where my weak imagination could ever take me. If I lost one of my fur-babies, I can only imagine the anxiousness, the grief and the hopelessness. But I now know not to trust my imagination.

If, however, you want us to stop and think before we rescue a pet about how the owner of that pet must be feeling, I think a huge majority of people on this site do that. What exactly is "everything possible" when it comes to locating a rescued pet's owner? Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't think of any posting where someone has taken another person's pet for the heck of it.

Sheltiemom- There have been at least 2 posts recently "I stole someone's cat" and "I think I've been adopted" where the posters have knowingly stolen someone else's cat. I was disgusted by both posts and didn't continue reading the threads; it is possible that the stealers eventually returned the pets to their rightful owners.

In most municipalities, there are laws regarding what one has to do when picking up a stray. Here in Durham, you must take the animal to the shelter. I've done it several times. Each time, I've filled out the adoption form so in case the owner never claims the pet and it is not adopted by anyone, I can take it. 2 were claimed by the owners, another owner was known to the shelter (the dog had just been bailed out 3 days prior) and he could not afford his Husky's "frequent flyer" increased bail and he went to Husky Rescue upon my arrangement; I would have taken him otherwise. I kept B'Elanna and Ana as they were not claimed, but they were not offered for adoption to anyone but me. I also placed an ad in the local papers for Ana and B'Elanna because I found out that doing that was free. Otherwise I would have done ads for all of them.

Were any of my dogs to somehow escape, my plan of action is

1. Have a copy place make 1000 copies of my lost flier, 100 laminated to be posted outdoors. The fliers would be placed on every store front in the immediate area and faxed to all the area vets and shelters. In my immediate neighborhood, I would place one in every mailbox. Telephone poles and street signs would have laminated fliers posted.
2. Tatya is the biggest flight risk, but she has a known weakness that I can exploit- she LOVES to play with other dogs. I could easily "borrow" a neighbor's dog to walk and lure Tatya to me.
3. Place a lost ad with a picture and reward in every newspaper around.
4. Call the shelters every single day.
5. If after a week there was no info on my dog, I'd consider buying air time on the local TV and radio stations (depends on cost somewhat; I'm not made of $).
6. I doubt I'd sleep at all, so I'd make DH stay home to answer the phone while I was out looking.
7. I'd enlist the help of all the kids and other dog owners in my neighborhood to help me look, especially those who can also walk their dogs to lure mine out.

My dogs are all microchipped except K'Ehleyr who is so old and slow she could be gone for hours and not get out of sight. Tatya has 2 chips because the one she came with when I adopted her is the AVID chip which cannot be found by many microchip readers. They all wear their collars and tags at all times, and they cannot come off without opposable thumbs (ie a person has to do it).

I am not the type of person to wallow in pity or crumble up and hope to die; I'm a doer, to a fault. I'm sure I'd be on the breaking point, not able to concentrate on anything other than finding my dog, not sleeping, etc. But I'd be doing everything in my power to find them.

sheltiemom, you have made an essential point - one that I have been trying to make myself but which seems to fall on blind eyes far too much of the time. When a loved animal is lost, the grief, anxiousness, and hopelessness can be so overwhelming that the owner simply can't perform the otherwise obvious steps necessary to try to locate their pet. Yet there are responses in nearly every thread discussing the "rescue" of a stray animal which condemns the previous owner for not trying hard enough to find their pet.

In my personal experience when my own animals have gone missing (and it's happened more than once in my lifetime), and even with all of my knowledge of the many different avenues of assistance in locating lost animals, I still have to fight hard against my panic and fear in order to react rationally and effectively in that situation. Sometimes I just can't do it. Sometimes it'll take days or even weeks before my mind will settle enough to remind me of some steps I should have taken when the animal first went missing. And I am not a person easily rattled.

It is a mistake and an unkindness to assume that an owner isn't grieving and doesn't ache for the return of a lost pet just because the owner isn't actively searching for the animal. The owner may be too emotionally distraught to think or act rationally, or may simply not know where to turn for help.

Because owners are often is a state of mental distress and confusion in these situations, and because the finder of a stray animal knows for certain that (s)he is NOT the owner of the found animal, it is the legal obligation of the finder to do whatever is prescribed by local ordinance regarding notification of stray animals. Morally and ethically, I would hope the finder would go beyond the ordinance requirements and also notify local shelters, rescues, vets, newspapers, radio stations, and put up found posters around the area in which the animal was found.

"For the heck of it" is a loaded phrase. Over the last 10+ yrs that I have been reading various pet forums on the internet, I have read numerous posts by folks who "rescued" animals whose owners were known to them but were deemed unworthy of pet ownership by the "rescuer". Sorry, but that's theft, plain and simple. If an abusive situation exists, law enforcement should be enlisted to handle the situation.

I've also read many, many more posts where folks came across animals which they assumed to be strays, took them into their homes, then neglected to make the appropriate notifications to the necessary authorities as required by local ordinance. That happens waaaaay too much of the time, and you can readily find threads on this forum where it has happened.

I'm all for rescue. My family is overflowing with rescued animals. I'm just not willing to write off every person who has ever lost an animal as automatically unworthy of animal ownership. The owners, if there are any, and the animals who love them deserve the opportunity to be reunited if that reunion is deemed in the best interest of the animals. That's why it's best to notify the authorities when a stray animal is found so that they can intervene and mediate, if necessary, when and if the owner shows up.

Laurie

Bravo, Meg, and thank you!

Laurie

I will print out the post by meghane in case my dog ever comes up missing. What is AVID chip how do I know that my dog does not have that kind of chip? Mebbe I will call the Vet to be sure. That is scarey.

Well, I did tell you what I would do if I lost my pet. This question you posed was a thinly veiled slam to vacuumfreak. I found my two cats abandoned in an arboretum parking lot seven years ago. Yes, I am certain they were abandoned. They had ear mites, they were emaciated, they were filthy and they were not spayed. In fact, the older one of the two was pregnant. I sank over eight hundred dollars into their medical care in the first two weeks I had them. I did post an ad in the paper but I was pretty certain nobody would answer and I was right. Perhaps you might speculate that the cats escaped their loving home, I suppose right as their owner was about to take them to the vet to be spayed and have their ear mites/ear yeast infections treated and actually feed them. I really think that most folks know when a cat has been cared for and when it has not. I also think that most folks will make an effort to find the cat's owner, as vacuumfreak has done, and as I have done in the past.

Hmmmm... if there was any "slam" I was thinking it was about my cat missing. Guess I am just all caught up in my problem. Regardless, I wouldn't have taken offense because it is what it is and no matter how you put it, I'm the one responsible for my cat's disappearance.

If I lost a pet, I would do the same thing I have with the pet that I found (or stole as some may think... maybe the zooming cars and stray racoons were his "owners" that I took him from)... put posters up, put an add on Craigs List and check with shelter. I know Pranjal also "stole" (read rescued) a homeless cat and left contact information for the original owners. I think as long as the finder makes an effort to locate the owners and doesn't just think of it as found property they went above and beyond the call of duty.

***Where would you go to look for your pet?***

Around the area.

*** How many miles from home would you search? ***
A couple

***For how long would you search?***
2 hours

***Who would you contact?***
First I'd call the animal shelter and the ones in neighboring counties. Then I'd call A sign company. I'd order hundreds of large full color missing dog signs and post them everywhere.

*** Most importantly, how would you feel about someone who "rescued" your animal without contacting any local authorities, shelters, area vets, or anyone else. Of course that last question is rhetorical since there would be no way for you to ever know that your cat had been "rescued" if the "rescuer" did not make the necessary contacts. ***

I'd feel lucky to have my pet back and I would offer a cash reward to the person who had taken in my pets so that they were not running loose in the street.

And having found loose animals, the same feeling of "holy cow what do I do know" runs through your mind when you find one. I wouldn't jump to conclusions unless the person didn't call the number on the tags or have them scanned for a chip or tatoo. But I'd thank my lucky stars and be grateful to get them back and go home.

Hmmmm... if there was any "slam" I was thinking it was about my cat missing. Guess I am just all caught up in my problem. Regardless, I wouldn't have taken offense because it is what it is and no matter how you put it, I'm the one responsible for my cat's disappearance.

Moonie...I figured it was a slam to vacuumfreak because the OP mentioned the cat that sleeps across one's neck...which is what vf has reported concerning Jayden. Pretty personal, I'd say.

I also thought it to be exactly as you described junebug1961... an thinly veiled slam to me and to Pranjal (who titled a post "I stole someones cat"). People who attack decisions of others feel better or more self righteous... most of the people here simply care if the animal is out of harm's way and if efforts have been made to make things right with the original owners if there were any. I tend to agree with those people!

Moonie... I didn't see a post that your cat had gone missing... hope you get it back safely and sorry you are going through that. I hope that if someone did find it they are keeping it safe until you are able to be reunited.

This thread is not a thinly veiled anything, and it's not directed at any single individual. As stated in my original post, I have read countless threads about "rescued" stray animals for more than a decade on this and several other internet pet forums. In fact, there is no time I can think of during the last decade when at least one post to which the concerns in this thread would apply hasn't aoppeared on every pet forum and discussion board to which I subscribe. The fact that I posted this here now when several forum users are dealing with stray animals is just the way it is ... now, last week, last year, 10 yrs ago. Those for whom these issues are currently close to home will hopefully consider all that is written on this thread.

Perhaps there are people who will read this thread who don't realize that there are statutes in most areas that designate procedure in dealing with stray animals. Perhaps there are techniques for searching for lost animals that can be shared here to the benefit of all, if folks will stop being so defensive and start helping each other. And maybe, just maybe, this thread will help reunite someone with a lost pet who might otherwise have lost his or her original home forever.

Laurie

junebug ... that's what I thought too. I wouldn't call it thinly veiled, I would call it pretty obvious.

----

laurief ... I, myself, would contact local shelters & vets, put an ad in the classifieds and flyers in the mailboxes of neighbors in surrounding streets. I would also feel grateful to anyone who had taken my pet in and given it a good home, whether or not I ever got it back. I mean that sincerely.

----

We who value our pets highly (everyone who posts here, I would guess) may find it hard to imagine that there are others who get a pet on a whim, then decide that giving it adequate care is too much trouble.

I work in the inner city and live in a suburb. I've seen the same scenario in both locations too many times. Careless plumbers are rarely the cause of stray cats or dogs.

Yes, an effort needs to be made to connect with the owner of lost pets and, yes, it may be difficult for some who have lost pets to effectively search for them.

The bottom line -- Stray/lost pets need a safe home. I admire those who are kind enough to take them in.

My strategies for finding a lost animal companion may change somewhat depending on my living situation and the specific circumstances of the animal's disappearance.

My first cat went missing when I was only 12 yrs old being raised in a Chicago suburb. Of course back then I was far too young to know anything about procedures or the proper authorities to contact, and I was much too distraught to question my parents about exactly what they were doing to help find Mariah. I do remember, however, answering every "found cat" ad I saw in the paper that sounded even remotely like Mariah for a period of five years after his disappearance.

When I was away at college. two of our family dogs got into the habit of escaping and running long distances before getting picked up by animal control and returned to my parents. Their longest journey before capture was five miles and two suburbs away. Fortunately, at least one of them always managed to keep his collar on long enough so that they could be identified after pick-up.

I moved out of the suburbs and into a very rural setting as a young adult, so I never had occasion to have to search for a lost animal as an adult in the suburbs. If I were in that situation today, however, this is what I'd do once my mind settled enough to think and act rationally.

1) Notify animal control in all towns within a 10 mile radius and call each one every day. Fax or mail posters with photo and description of the lost animal, as well as my contact info. Personally visit all animal control facilities at least every other day to view all animals.

2) Do the same with shelters, humane societies, and rescues.

3) Notify all vets, groomers, pet stores, animal clubs, trainers, and boarding facilities within a 10 mile radius. Fax or mail flyers with photo and description of the lost animal, as well as my contact info.

4) Distribute and post flyers as widely as possible.

5) Personally distribute flyers and speak directly to as many people in my neighborhood as possible.

6) Contact all area newspapers, radio stations, and local TV stations with "lost pet" announcements. Send them flyers in addition to making personal contact over the phone.

7) Personally search for the animal - dogs during daylight hours, cats both day and night.

8) Place food, water, dirty clothing or bedding materials, and a soiled litterbox (if the missing animal is a cat) outside my house so that the familiar scents will help draw the animal back to the house.

9) Acquire a live trap and bait it outside my house to hopefully capture the animal at night if (s)he is too frightened to come out during the day.

In my current rural location, some of these strategies wouldn't apply. I live almost ten miles from the nearest town and over a mile from my nearest neighbor as the crow flies through federal forest, so there is no "neighborhood" per se in which to plaster posters and no animal control who is picking up stray animals. Here, I rely on calling all of my farmer neighbors and the local area folks who are known for taking in strays. I also use a live trap when stray cats show up on my farm and would use the trap to recapture one of my own cats if one should get spooked outside and go into hiding. I would also notify the county sheriff's office and the police dept in the nearest town in case someone found my animal and called them.

In one case, one of my cats disappeared the same day that I had a TV antenna repairman out here. I not only called the repairman repeatedly to have him check his truck and keep an eye out around his house for my cat, but I insisted he give me the names and addresses of everywhere he went after leaving my farm, and I called them all repeatedly over the next few weeks, too. Unfortunately, Cappy never reappeared. That was more than ten years ago, and I still hope to see him in the yard when I go outside.

I have had stray dogs show up here (even a couple of horses), and in one case I rescued a dog from a gas station in town where he had been wandering and crossing a busy highway several times a day, and brought him back to my farm. None of the dogs had collars. In all cases I followed the same notification procedures that I would follow with my own animals, and in all cases but one, the animals were reunited with their rightful owners.

Cats are a different issue. In farming country, cats are largely regarded as rodenticides, and their comings and goings are of little consequence to most people. I have never had anyone admit to ownership of any of the cats who have strayed (or more likely been dumped) on my farm. That's how I have ended up with thirteen feline kids.

Laurie

In two cases, not knowing whether a cat hanging around my house was a stray or not, I put a collar and tag with my phone number on the cat. I figured that if the cat did have an owner and did go home at some point the collar would either be removed or the owner would contact me. In both cases, the collar and tag stayed on for a week or more--and then, after placing ads as well, I took the cats in.

I live in an urban area and, if my animals disappeared, I would 1) put an ad in several local papers; 2) make and distribute hundreds of fliers (as I did for a stray dog who would not let himself be caught in the neighborhood in bitter cold weather--and it worked. Someone saw the flier and caught the dog); 3) contact all area vets and shelters. Perhaps there are people who get paralzyed with fright or curl up and do nothing if a beloved pet is lost, but I don't know any. The point of my answer to your original post, by the way, was not irrelevant. The point is that owners need to be proactive about ensuring the best outcome if their pets are lost--that is, putting a collar or tag on the pet, and/or microchipping--and many do not take this simple step.

To me, the difference in people's attitude is this - one group takes the approach of "I found this animal and would like to keep it, so I'll throw up a few posters and hope no one claims it". The other group says "I've found this animal and I'm sure someone is looking for it, so I will do everything I can to help that person find their pet. If all else fails, I will give the animal a good home".

I'm with Laurie and Meghane. I do not believe that putting up some posters or leaving contact information with a third party (who may or may not have actually passed that information on to the owners) is sufficient. Animals can travel an amazing distance in a short period of time. Posters in the immediate area may not be seen by a person who is looking two miles away, not realizing their pet traveled so far. Telling a shelter that you have a "black dog" will not provide enough information for the person who calls to see if the shelter has a "flat coated retriever" (for example). I believe a person who finds a lost pet has a responsibility to assume that the owner is looking for that pet and to do everything they can to help the owner and pet be reunited. Just my opinion, of course.

As for what I would do to find my own pets - which happen to be dogs, I do not have cats - as stated above, it would depend partly on the circumstances. My dogs have collars with ID and are microchipped, but things happen - I would NOT count on the collars staying on, people calling the numbers, or the people taking the dog where it can be checked for a chip. If the dog went missing from my yard, I would be calling all my neighbors, or knocking on their doors, asking them to help look or at least to watch for the dog. I would be walking the area while DH drove, both looking and calling (and, an example of how one's thoughts get scattered, I know from experience that you don't necessarily even think of carrying a cell phone - not till later do you remember details like this). We live fairly close to the Humane Society and I am on the Board of Directors, so am fortunate that the personnel there know my dogs. In my case a simple phone call would work, in most cases I would recommend *visiting*, not just calling because what one person might call a "large red setter", another person might call a "medium sized golden retriever". If the dog was not found in about two hours, I would call all my friends, my agility classmates, and everyone else I could think of to help look. I would call all the vets. I would call the sheriff's office, not only to see if they had picked up a dog, but at that point I might start being concerned that the dog had been stolen. I would put some posters up, but in my situation that isn't very useful as we live in the country and have very few places to put posters that would be seen. I would ask neighbors' kids to help me look. I would not stop until the dog was found or until I was forced to stop looking by darkness or exhaustion. I would resume looking as soon as possible. I would call the radio stations and place an ad in the paper. I would put posters up in town, in grocery stores, fast food places, etc.

I have had dogs disappear, fortunately for rather short periods of time (I think the longest was about an hour). It is a devastating feeling. I worry about the dangers - we live near a river, did the dog get swept away? did she get stolen? did she get attacked by a raccoon? etc.

My dogs are all VERY people oriented, so if they were in the vicinity of a person, I have no doubt that the dog would run up to the person and beg to be petted. If the collar is on, a responsible person would immediately call me. If the collar was for some reason missing - will that person think they have a beautiful, loving, gentle new pet? Of course, the dog will have been running through the fields and woods, and be covered with burrs and brambles and mud, so the person might assume the dog is uncared for. If it has been more than two hours, one of my dogs would do everything she can to convince the person that she has not eaten for weeks! In fact, all three dogs are on reduced rations and therefore would appear to a stranger as "starving". I think it very possible that someone would simply take the dog. And while I am grateful for them removing the dog from danger, I would be extremely upset if they did not try to find me, the owner.

Yes, we need to do the best we can to ensure that our pets can be returned to us, but unplanned things happen. I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is not realizing how far an animal can travel. Especially a scared animal trying to find his humans. As pet owners, we should be prepared to search much more thoroughly than we would have thought necessary and if we find a pet, we should be prepared to spread the word much further than we would have thought necessary.

prairie_love, you have made some very important points about perceptions and assumptions.

When I read Meg's response about her dogs' collars only being able to be removed by a human being (not being able to be snagged and pulled off), I assumed that her dogs' collars are quite snug. Cat collars also have to be quite snug in order to prevent the flexible little beasts from getting their claws or feet stuck in them in the attempt to get them off. However, I have read plenty of "found pet" posts over the years that have assumed animal neglect simply because the collar was more snug than the finder felt was preferable (I'm not referring to collars that have actually become embedded in the animal's flesh).

My own vet has told me that when my dogs are at proper weight, they should be thin enough that my neighbors are reprimanding me for not feeding them enough. If my neighbors are telling me my dogs are too skinny, what is a would-be "rescuer" likely to think about their condition and my care of them?

One of my cats recently got spooked outside and went into hiding for three days before I could convince her to let me catch her and bring her back inside. She was terrified while outside, lost a couple of pounds in three days, and could easily have contracted ear mites (which luckily she did not), tapeworm (which luckily she did not), and/or become incredibly filthy and full of burrs (which she did not). If anyone but me had found her, they would have assumed she was feral and homeless.

The fact is that lost animals can very quickly lose their healthy appearance and friendly behavior. It takes virtually no time at all for a lost pet to become infested with fleas, ticks, ear mites, and internal parasites; and if they are not good hunters or scavengers, they will drop weight rapidly, as well. A pet can go from spotlessly clean to a total slime bucket in the blink of an eye, and perfectly groomed to a matted mess in just a couple of days when on their own outdoors. Then you have the proper caretaking techniques (snug collars and lean weight) that can be easily misinterpreted as abusive.

And we're back to, none of us ever KNOW the history of the lost/stray/feral/abandoned animals we find. We are quick to assume the absolute worst about whatever people the animals may have had in their lives before we "rescued" them. Wouldn't it be kinder all the way around to assume the best and work from that starting point to insure the best possible futures for the animals and their people?

Laurie

I'd look for my pet in the house, around the house, in the yard, in neighbors' yards, ask around, put up Lost Pet posters everywhere (with a photograph), inform area vets and shelters (give them photographs too), put an ad in newspapers ... then check and re-check at all these places again.

I've done all of the above for the stray cats I found and succeeded in reuniting owners with their beloved pets in four cases. The other two stayed with me as I could not give up my job and go asking every person in America if they lost a cat. I think most of us do everything possible for a human being to do in such cases.

Well I too think this is a direct attack on people who found animals in pitiful conditions and decided to give the poor critters a good home and the care they needed - these very people also did what they could to find the owner.

Vacuumfreak - you should have left Jayden to die in the streets - don't you know, he was wearing a flea collar, so HE IS SOMEBODY's PET!! You have no right to make sure Jayden's safe and has food and love! So what if you put posters - nobody called you about Jayden, it is YOUR fault!

Pranjal - Why would you want to bring in a pregnant kitty who was suffering without food and water in that horrid heat in Dubai? What do you mean, you have no animal shelters and animal laws aren't in place? And why wouldn't you want to confront an Arab expat at 0330 AM?(I'm sorry Pranjal but we Americans just really don't know there could be situations you described in your emails to me, and people here I guess need to think beyond what they read - and you were right, this is a public forum, and so you didn't want to write in too much detail; I simply had to write this here) You left your contact details with the doorman, but nobody called for Pumpkin - it's all your fault, Pranjal! You should have left Pumpkin to suffer a horrid fate! Right now, you should take Pumpkin (and those cute kittens) back to the guy and let them treat her any way they want.

LOL really Meghane's response cracked me up - Meghane, you're very busy with your studies I'd think, so when you see a post with such 'disgusting' subjects as I stole somebody's cat and I think I've been adopted, please don't read them.

I'd love to know what Meghane or the others against the rescuers would do in similar circumstances - I think they would say Oh well let's see if the owner comes looking for his pet, I'll check tomorrow, then she'll see the pet dead the next day, run over or something, and she'll go home and shed tears over it LOL

The bottom line -- Stray/lost pets need a safe home. I admire those who are kind enough to take them in. I agree.

From a finders standpoint, what more are you expecting a "finder" to do aside from flyers and notifying authorities?

I had an extremely old Rhodesian ridgeback wander into my yard one day. Called animal control, no one has reported a lost one. OK, it oughta be easy to find her home; she's old couldn't have traveled and certainly someone knows who has this kinda rare breed. The dog and I walked two blocks knocking on doors. We got to the point I had to keep stopping and resting for the dog. Flagged down a local policeman and asked him if anyone had reported the dog and they hadn't. He took the dog from me to keep at the station for 24 hours and then to animal control she would go. I put up flyers at our 2 grocery stores saying the dog was turned into the police.

There was no way I could temporarily keep this dog and due to her age, please don't tell me she slipped her collar. The dog certainly didn't act or looked abuse and I'm sure someone was heartbroken, but a collar could have guaranteed her being returned home.

I had a cat start to hang around and wait for me to feed my 2 feral cats everyday. First thought I had was the "the food is better over there syndrome" going, but soon realized this cat was famished. Put up flyers again, contacted authorities again and the cat never left. After a week I finally brought the cat inside.

What else are you wanting the "finder" to do exactly?

I can't say I didn't have reservations about Pranjal's actions. However, leaving her contact info with the doorman should have given the rightful owner an easy way to get the cat back IF they really wanted it. In the end, I think she did make the right decision.

As a person who has a lost a pet to someone who found it, and then claimed it as theirs, I totally understand the point of this thread.

I have a hard time reading threads of people who have not done any notification or attempts to find previous owners when taking in stray animals.

My pet was lost when my neighbors lit off fireworks on the 4th of July. We were in the backyard. My large dog was frightened, busted down the back fence gate, and ran. The small dog chased and followed. The larger dog was returned home about two days later, because of the phone number on her collar. The smaller dog never did come home.

I spent hundreds of dollars on flyers and advertisements. I spent countless hours and time off work, searching, calling and visiting local shelters and police stations. I put flyers in every mail box and every store for about 10 mile radius. I probably didn't sleep for at least a month and I still have nightmares about losing her to this day (its been three years now.)

Eventually someone, via the flyers, tipped me off about their neighbor who had acquired a pet very similar to the one in the flyer, around the fourth of July. They lived about 1 mile away (as the crow flies) about 5 miles by car. The theives lived two doors down from the home who found and called me on the big dog. (So the dogs were probably close together the entire time they were gone.)

A dog tag on a collar isn't really helpful in this situation. As the theif just removes the collar and the tag. (I now have all my dogs microchipped.)

The police said that without a microchip, very specific birthmark or a tattoo, they could not intervene on my behalf. A photograph is not good enough identification for a pet... too many dogs look similar. (The police even said unless the people who have possession "agree" to let them scan for a chip, that microchips are somewhat limited in this type of situation.)

I was staking out their house, waiting for an opportunity to grab her and run...that is how desperate I was. The people who claimed her as their own, realized that I was on to them and they got rid of my dog. I have an idea where they sent her, I've heard (through their neighbors) that she was sent to a farm, somewhere about 200 miles south of here.

The police have questioned them on a couple occaisions, but they claim ignorance.

I also know the theives have told their neighbors that they "rescued" a stray dog. So these people believe they have done my dog a favor by saving her from me. Even though she had a color with my name and number on it, a rabies tag,... she was spayed, fully vaccinated, plump, spunky, trained to sit, stay, shake and roll over. She was the the most cutest little dog anyone would ever want. Which is one reason why I didn't get her back. IF she would have been a big dog, I know that they would not have "rescued" her.

The only thing I have now is the comfort that my dog wasn't eaten by coyotes. I hope that where ever she is now, she is as happy now, as she was when she lived with us. I hope she remembers us and maybe someday she will even find her way home. I think about that Disney movie, Homeward Bound, imagining her travelling very far, in a big adventure...

Another thing that I found out when I was looking for my dogs, was that some people were very helpful and other people were down right cruel. I would get comments from the animal shelter staff or a vet's office, about how they were glad that they never had to worry about trying to find their pets, because they never let their loose. It was like a stabbing me in my already broken heart.

So just to let you know, that if you take in a stray and do not make any legal attempt to find the original owners, then you are a theif.

There is an expectation of law that the citizens who live under the protection of the law adhere to its ordinances and requirements. It is the obligation of every rescuer to make him or herself aware of and to obey the ordinances and legal requirements regarding estray animals. That is what I expect. That is what every pet owner has a right to expect for the protection of their animals.

I have no argument with folks who rescue animals and adhere to the applicable ordinances. If all the ordinance requires is notification of animal control, and if the rescuer does that, then the requirement has been satisfied. If the ordinance requires that the animal be turned over to animal control for a holding period before the animal can be legally adopted, then that procedure should be followed.

I would hope, however, that rescuers would go above and beyond the requirements of the legal ordinance and behave in a manner that they would want others to behave if situations were reversed and it was the rescuer's own animal that was lost.

When I rescue an animal and later find the animal's owner, the owner is always very, very grateful and relieved, usually pretty embarrassed, and often offers me some sort of reward. I explain how I rescued the animal, who I notified about his rescue, how I cared for him, what I fed him, and where I kept him. Then I tell the owners that the only reward I want is their promise to do the same for a stray animal they may come across some day. I can only hope that they will pay it forward to the next needy animal who crosses their paths.

Laurie

I would hope that anyone who loses their pet realizes they have the responsibility to do their best to locate their pet, not just sit & wait for it to show up, or run out & get another pet if it doesn't. Anyone who finds a "stray" has the responsibility to try to find the owner. I have lost a cat once, I called all the appropriate places, advertised to no avail. I just hope that someone "stole" her, I still think of her years later & would feel much better if I thought she were being well cared for somewhere. I very much doubt it was the case.

joepye - that's such a sad story, I'm very sorry. I also hope that your little one is happy.

Laurie, I agree completely with you and Meghane and the others who expressed their support of your comments. I suspect that you did not so much intend to attack the people who posted about stealing animals. I think that maybe, like me, you've been appalled at how many people have applauded their decisions to not search for the owners and reacted as if they were heroes. At the same time, people who post that they lost a pet receive much sympathy. Don't some people here realize that these could be the same people the others stole from?

The times in my life that I ever lost a pet were usually times of other stresses for our family that made searching that much more difficult. The birth of a baby, a move to a new home, a death or illness in the family can all be times when a pet is more likely to escape and the owners least able to cope.

Deciding to keep an animal based on his condition makes no sense, because you have no way of knowing what he's been through since he became lost. I once discovered a cat living in my Dad's boat under its tarp in our garage. It wouldn't come near us, but we saw it come and go for a month. Then I came across an old sign in the grocery store for a lost cat. I called the people and they came and recognized their cat by several distinctive markings and a missing tooth. The odd thing was, she had been lost for a year and we lived less than two miles apart. She remembered them and they were very happy to see each other. Good thing I didn't make assumptions about her owners.

No one has suggested that any stray should be left to fend for himself or ignored. Just that once rescued from his situation, the finder should either turn him into a shelter or make every effort themselves to find the rightful owner and allow them to claim their pet. It isn't your place to decide who is an appropriate owner and who isn't, based on what limited information you have and lots of big assumptions.

As joepyeweed demonstrated above, you can never get over a lost pet because you have no idea what happened to him, so you can't reach a point of acceptance. Think about it the next time you decide to self-righteously claim some "bad" owner's pet.

There are some times you can just tell the owner doesn't give a darn about the pet.

If the owner doesn't give a darn about the pet, then by all means offer to adopt the pet from the owner. If the owner is abusive or neglectful, file a complaint with animal control or with an animal shelter's humane officer.