Many of the calls that St. Hubert's answers every day are related to lost or found pet animals. Residents of the municipalities who contract St. Hubert's of animal control services, as well as those who live in neighboring communities telephone the shelters when their companion animals are missing from home. Staff members take complete reports and check them against the animals in the shelter to ascertain whether the pet has already been rescued. If not, the report is keep on file so that it may be compared to incoming animals as well as to callers describing animals that they have found. In addition, we offer callers advice and additional information on how to go about locating a missing pet or finding the owner of a found dog or cat. It is a happy occasion when St. Hubert's plays a part in reuniting a valued canine or feline family member with a grateful owner.

Every community has arrangements for the housing of stray dogs and cats. When a pet a lost, the primary goal is to find its owner. It is very important, therefore, that the lost be housed at the facility that the community in which it was found has identified. That will be the first place that its owner will know or be advised to call or visit in search of the missing dog or cat. While well meaning folks often find a dog or cat and then bring it to their own municipality or wish to have it housed at another facility that they prefer, this practice is not conducive to getting the animal and its owner back together. A finder should never assume that an animal has been abandoned; St. Hubert's has learned by experience that things are not always what they seem. Even a dog or cat that appears to be in poor condition might be lost--without knowing the whole story we can never be sure what has transpired prior to our meeting the animal.

If You Lose a Pet

Naturally, keeping your dog confined and your cat indoors are the best ways to insure that you never experience the heartbreak of not knowing the whereabouts of your pet. Nevertheless, accidents do happen, even to the most vigilant of us pet owners--a gate or a door is accidentally left open, a containment system fails, a sudden frightening noise causes a pet to run off, etc. and suddenly a dog or cat has seemingly vanished. You should act immediately whenever you are unable to find your pet.

No matter how careful you are it is always best to have a good plan in place should you and your pet become separated. Make sure that Fido and Fluffy are always wearing a sturdy collar with identification tags and licenses attached. A current rabies tag, while not certain proof that the animal is vaccinated, is handy in the event that your pet should be involved in a bite as it signifies that he or she is indeed vaccinated and you can confirm that with the certificate issued by your veterinarian. The excuse that a cat which goes outdoors should not wear a collar since it may cause injury if she gets it caught on something hold little weight with animal shelter staff. Safety collars are readily available for cats of all sizes and while St. Hubert's receives hundreds of cats without collars and tags every year, we've yet to receive any cats who became injured by being caught on something due to their collars. If you travel with your pets, pick up some temporary identification tags that you can fill out with your vacation address and affix them to your pet's collar along with their permanent tags.

It is a good idea to keep handy the names and phone numbers of your local animal control facilities so that you won't be searching for them in the event of an emergency. If you don't already know it, you can obtain this information from your local municipal administrator's office or health department. In addition, a recent photo of your pet should be kept with this information so that you can give a very accurate description of your cat or dog to those taking lost reports. If you live in an area where such reports are taken by the police department, it is probably a good idea to phone again after a shift change. Police departments can be every busy and lost pets are often not their first priorities; a second call can insure that your information is available to a new shift of officers on duty. Alert all of your neighbors and ask whether you may check their garages and outbuilding--curious animals, especially cats, have been known to be snooping around in such buildings and be closed in by unsuspecting neighbors. An advertisement in the local daily newspaper's "lost and found" section is also a good idea. Hopefully your wanderer will be located quickly. Once you have him back take a few moments to notify everyone that you reported to that your cat or dog is back at home; it is much easier for all involved to continue reuniting pets and people if we aren't spending time reviewing reports on animals who are no longer missing.

If you should find a pet report it's presence as quickly as possible to the local animal control agency--they may already have a report on the animal you've discovered. If not, they can explain for you the procedure you should follow to turn the animal over to them. It is always wise to use caution in handling a dog or cat that you do not know--frightened animals might be inclined to attempt to get away or even bite when approached or apprehended by strangers. Since you cannot know their background or vaccination status it is important that you do all you can to avoid such a situation. While it is best that you turn the animal over to the local agency, you might decide to hang onto him or her for the greater part of the day just in case the owner is a neighbor who is at work or off on an errand. Keep in mind, however, that the local facility should at least be notified and that if you have decided not to hold the animal overnight you should allow the animal control officer to pick the dog or cat up by mid-afternoon, not at the end of the work day when they are likely to be much busier and might not be available. You should also make your neighbors aware of the animal you have found in case one of them knows who it might belong to and many newspapers will run a "found" advertisement free of charge. In most cases, it is best for you to relinquish the pet you have found to the facility designated by the municipality in which it was found--unless you are certain that you can provide it with a permanent home if it is not claimed.

The sooner that both lost and found pets are reported to all of the agencies that can help the greater the chances are that they can be reunited with their rightful owners.