In October last year, my three dogs got out of our yard. To be honest with you, until today I am not entirely sure exactly what happened; I can only think that I forgot to press the remote to close our front gate.
Needless to say, when we returned, we were greeted by an open gate and no dogs to be seen anywhere. We started looking for them in our immediate area, spending about an hour and a half driving up and down every street in the neighbourhood. We found one of our dogs a block or so from our house, but the other two were nowhere to be seen.
That was when I started posting on Facebook groups, phoning the vets in our area as well as the local SPCA. During this frantic search, I realised that there were quite a few lost and found Facebook groups, but you can only see their posts if you are a member, and I immediately requested to join. It was only after my request was approved that I saw a post about my dogs being at Laerskool Dr Havinga.
What made me a bit hot under the collar, was one of the comments on the post, reading ‘Where are the owners! Fetch your dogs before they are sent to the SPCA!’ Comments like these result in pet owners not wanting to ask for help when their pets are missing. Maybe, if more compassion, and less judgement, is shown, trying to find a lost pet might be less traumatic. It might also be a good idea to change the privacy settings of these groups, to allow posts to be seen by everyone, as this is usually the first stop in an owner’s search.
So, what should you do when your pets go missing? Here are some tips:
• Contact your local SPCA and vets in the area. You should also visit the SPCA to see if your pet is there.
• Search the neighbourhood. Ask around and have photos and your contact details at hand.
• Post notices at grocery stores, community centres, veterinary practices, traffic intersections, at pet supply stores and other locations, with a description of your pet and your contact details.
• Join any local groups or pages for your town or area as these are good forums for posting about your missing pet.
• Be wary of pet-recovery scams. When talking to a stranger who claims to have found your pet, ask him to describe the pet thoroughly before you offer any information. Be particularly wary of people who insist that you hand over or deposit money for the return of your pet.
• Don’t give up your search. Animals that have been lost for months have been reunited with their owners.
Until next week, stay safe and look out for each other …
