OMG stolen animals close to where we live

[BarbiesBabyJada]

have been noticing A LOT of lost dog ads and missing pets. Most of them that I have noticed and heard about are larger breed dogs. I was at the Marathon truck stop yesterday at the Ashland/Catlettsburg border. A woman was telling me her Lab that she had for 10 years came up missing recently. She told me she contacted the Boyd County Animal Shelter and they informed her people are stealing pets to fight them with their pit bulls.

Tips for preventing dogs from being stolen:

Even if your dog is in a fence, get a pad lock for the gate.

* Make sure your pet has his/her tags on at all times. If your pet is an escape artist, get him/her a harness. they have to be Houdini to get out of one of those. They are comfortable and safe for your pet. It may save their life. 95% of all pets that are lost without identification do not return home. 95% of all pets that are lost with identification do return home.

* If you move locations, make sure your pet is well supervised outside during the first 3 months of relocation. Many pets are strange to the surroundings and may get confused by the new scents.

* If you are having someone watch your pet while you are away, and it is not at your home. Make sure the pet-sitter is extremely careful if the animal is let outside. The animal is already confused by your absence and can easily be led astray from strange surroundings.

* Never let your pet run loose in an area that you are not familiar with.




If your pet is stolen:
* First, think about the tags your pet was wearing, and call the appropriate agencies. For example, if your pet was wearing a tag with a shelter phone number, call that shelter; if your pet was wearing a vaccination tag, call the veterinarian that gave the shots to your pet.

* Second, call the local animal shelters. Give the shelter a full description of your pet. *IMPORTANT - keep calling; call every day to see if your pet has been picked up. Most shelters do not log every call and you are likely not to speak to the same person twice. To be even more assured, go to the animal shelters in person. Many pets can be mis-described and never identified by the owner over the phone.

* Third, prepare a flyer giving only a physical description of your pet. Do not give the name of the pet (it may not answer to its name when it is lost and frightened); do not give any behavioral information (behavior changes dramatically when a pet is lost); do not give exact location lost (it is not a question of how far your pet will travel on its own - what often happens is that people who find a stray take it to their home quite distance away, and then they either put it out again or it gets out. Your pet can be anywhere!; also keep in mind that 40% of pets recovered are lost with a collar and are found with no collar or a different one.


If you have a photo of your pet, try making one copy. If the copy depicts your pet accurately, then use it. If not, then using it can do more harm than good. To get the best results have the photo scanned and put it on a flyer. It will look alot more accurate than a photo copy.


Write the word REWARD on top of the flyer in large print, and your phone number on the bottom. If you think your pet was stolen, do not indicate that because the person a stolen pet is most often recovered from, had nothing to do with theft, and you will scare them off. DO NOT even say, "no questions asked."


* Make a list, using the yellow pages of all veterinarians, animal hospitals, pet shops, grooming shops, and any other facilities listed under pets. Visit each facility, carry your own roll of masking tape, and ask permission to hang up a flyer. Whenever possible do not leave it for them to do. One flyer put up in one veterinary office, will be seen by 30 to 40 animal owners a day - and it is animal owners that will take in strays.
* Other excellent places to post flyers are
o Convenience stores and gas stations
o Food stores
o Schools
o Banks
o Post offices
* People who you should give your flyer to:

* Trainers...both dog and horse trainers may be willing to help.
* Farriers...if your dog is out in the country with someone, farriers can help to keep open eyes on farms and ranches that may have dogs not visible from the road.
* Schools...ask the principal of any area schools if you can give a flyer to each teacher to show the class. Kids are great at spotting dogs.
* Delivery people and agencies
* Gas and Oil Delivery
* Postal employees (post one in post office lobbies too, and ask if one can be posted at the time clocks of the employees)
* Florists
* UPS offices and delivery employees
* Road crews and construction workers


* As you travel, look for community bulletin board sign shopping enters, churches, or anywhere else that you can post a notice of general interest. Also put flyers on the streets at busy intersections. (Be sure to remove these signs once your pet is found.


* In the morning, go to the location your pet was lost with a pen and pad. Write down the company name of services making deliveries at that hour. Some examples are bread, milk and newspaper delivery services. Call the dispatch offices for those companies, give them a description of your pet and ask that they alert their drivers. Most pets recovered while still on the street, are found during the quiet early morning hours and then hide when the tempo picks up. If possible, follow up with a flyer.


* After you have done a thorough job of postering, follow up your earlier phone call with a visit to the municipal shelter for your area. Even if the shelter told you they do not have any animal fitting the description of yours right now, or that they well call your if one comes in, or even that they did not pick up any strays since your pet was lost, you must visit the facility.


* Don't be discouraged! If you follow these suggestions we have given you, there is every reason to believe that your pet will be recovered. But it often takes time, and almost always takes hard work.





I may be setting up a website for lost pets in our area in hopes to help some recover their pets. I will let everyone know.

[BarbiesBabyJada]

I got this in craigslist

[Princes mom]

Thank you for posting that. We will be going to Chapel Hill for my son's graduation on May 10th, and although we are staying in a pet friendly hotel, I made arrangements for Prince to stay in my son's apartment (although they do not allow pets, but for only this time) during the ceremony. I would be too afraid that the housekeeper may accidently let him out, or take him.

[Yorkiedaze]

Dogs are also being stolen and sold to labs. Big business!! This dog napping seems to be getting worse everywhere. Just treat your fur kids like they were little skin kids. Never out of sight unless they are with a trusted friend or family member.

[katiekid]

This is what I fear the most! I was told that an animal with a microchip can not be used for lab/research purposes- does anyone have any insight on that?

[jenamiles]

I found a stray on Monday that was a Jack Russell Mix (maybe). He was soo well behaved, unneutered, and neatly groomed minus the day's dirt from his adventures. My hubby thought I was nuts for taking him in, but I knew someone was missing him and I didn't want him to get hurt. We have tons of loose dogs because we live in the country off of a heavily used highway (we get dumped dogs) but he was small and defiinitely an indoor dog. I had to fly out early the following morning for a week so I had to take him to the humane society (my husband does not do dogs, he tolerates mine and we don't have a fenced yard), but I've been trying to figure out how to locate the owners and make sure they know where he is so they can get him. This will at least help give me ideas. I'm sure the Humane Society is tired of hearing from me asking if the owner has found him yet.

I've been trying to convince my husband to let me get a second dog and he was "perfect". I am thinking when I get back, we can adopt him and hopefully one of the neighbors will recognize him while we are out. And if not, I get my second dog