Every day pets go missing …. in an instant and unexpectedly. The numbers are staggering.
Some are lost, others stolen. If the owner and pet are lucky, they are reunited quickly. Others may take days, months or even years. Sadly, the fate of some may never be known.
If you are fortunate enough not to know first-hand how easily it can happen, or how frantic and heartbreaking it can be to find a lost pet, your involvement in U2R will not only assist others in need … it will work to build a strong and interactive community that can be “at the ready” to assist you or loved ones should there ever be a need.
How do they go missing?
Despite owner vigilance, it can happen in an instant. A gate left or blown open, a dog “spooked” during a walk and able to pull loose, a cat sneaking out a door left ajar. Some go missing while traveling with their owner and have the misfortune of being in an accident where they find themselves catapulted loose. And, we know well about those that are tragically separated as a result of emergency evacuations and the like. No owner who has lost a pet is likely to tell you they expected it would happen.
What can happen to them?
They can end up at the local shelter, a State away, or across the country! Some may never have the chance to be reunited as they are rehomed by their finders, sometimes thinking they are doing the right thing. Yet the efforts to assist are diverse and disconnected.
Improving the odds
U2R is ready to serve as a “community of efforts to help reunite lost pets”!
What if YOUR pet, was found wandering …
assumed to be a stray?
What are the chances you would be reunited?
We’re working to improve the odds … together!
But we need your help to grow a connected community by joining Unite 2 Reunite (U2R).
(Yes cats too! In fact, because so many of them are NOT microchipped or tagged they are less likely to get reunited. Plus with so many feral cat colonies, making it harder to discern a cat that is a pet from a feral.)
WE NEED YOUR HELP
More CAN be done to increase reunions of lost pets with their owners, from individuals who find stray pets doing all they can to locate the owner to improving Return to Owners rates in shelters.
If you’ve never lost your pet, or don’t think it could ever happen, learn more about how quickly it can happen. Check out our blog and other resources we provide to gain insight which we hope will encourage you to join our initiative.
The Power and Value of the U2R Community
Working to overcome the “bucket effect”
Much like when a centralized effort for missing children was founded, we can only do justice to lost pets by doing our share, but doing it in an integrated manner. Enter HeLPingLostPets.com and Lost Dogs of America, two efforts which runs all volunteer lost/found fb pages across the country have been integrating their efforts and seeing significant value of what they refer to as the POWER OF ONE. At the same time, HeLP has been integrating with shelters, rescues and providing a free map-based system for individuals to post and search locally or nationwide for a lost pet. Both of these groups believe that providing FREE resources are vital.
Their model is working and expanding.
Their all volunteer and dedicated team of “Matchmakers” monitoring posts trying to “make a match” of lost and found pets, and providing one central database, along with a valuable and free volunteer-based “dead-end” microchip research service.
Expanding the vision further … with U2R!
By creating our U2R community, we are looking to create an atmosphere of collaboration and embracing our shared desire to help reunite more lost pets.
Not replacing great local efforts.
We recognize and applaud the fantastic local lost and found facebook pages and efforts are still invaluable. However, posting, sharing, and growing HeLPingLostPets.com is essential. HeLP is created by someone from the rescue community who is dedicated to provide this central registry nationwide, that goes beyond individual posts, provides filtered searches over the long term, and offers a volunteer “Matchmakers” network behind-the-scenes searching for matches ALL FOR FREE.
Check out our Q & A page, or get started below to join us.
Do Your Share to help reunite lost pets … Join the U2R community.
JOIN NOW!
Proud Partner – Pet Related Businesses
Non-Profits, Rescues,
Lost Pet Related Organizations & Efforts:
We’d love to have you join us too!
Email us so we can discuss the best ways we can do so!
All members are vital to the success of Unite 2 Reunite.
The U2R community initiative will galvanize companies, efforts, and individuals to support those pet owners who need and deserve a UNITED effort.
We believe that while all efforts serve an important role, that coordinating with a free and national database with the fervent vision of integrating ALL lost and found pets, from shelters, rescues, and individuals can we counter what we call the “bucket effect”.
A huge SHOUT OUT to the scores of volunteers who dedicate themselves everyday to reunite lost pets with their owners. We hope you will consider collaborating as well!
WE HOPE YOU WILL JOIN US as we work to build a vibrant community that works collaboratively and that UNITE 2 REUNITE!
About HeLPingLostPets.com and the Power of One
A Lost/Found Pet Registry That is Unique
HeLP has arrived. In fact, this FREE, Integrated, Map-Based Lost/Found Pet Registry has been quietly at work and growing integrated within the lost pet community. This is why HelpingLostPets.com (HeLP) is at the core of our Unite 2 Reunite community.
Check out HeLP’s lastest tweets to the right for the most current alerts they’ve shared.
Another organization that is leading the way is Lost Dogs of America (LDOA). Their vision and dedication to recognizing the POWER OF ONE which includes their integrated efforts with HeLPingLostPets.com is revolutionizing the lost/found pet efforts to overcome the “bucket effect”.
LDOA is a network of State-wide efforts to provide resources and post lost/found pets and leverage the strength of HeLP.
Read LDOA’s posts about some of the FREE services HeLP provides including multilingual flyers.
HeLP testimonials (shared with permission from their website):
NOTE FROM owner about his dogs
Just wanted to thank the folks at helpinglostpets.com. Within literally less than an hour of posting a profile of my two lost dogs, I received information through this site that ultimately brought our pets home. I was amazed, I will keep their profiles up to date and recommend this site to everyone. Truely a great tool for all pet owners. Keep up the good work.
Best Regards, Doug Harold, Harley, Ontario.
My name is Aubrie Kavanaugh. I manage a humane education website called Paws4Change, I’m a no kill advocate and I do volunteer work for Marshall County Animal Control in Alabama. We started using Helping Lost Pets just a week ago and we already have our first happy ending. A dog was picked up on a Monday. We listed her on the HeLP site that same day and did a “Found” flyer to post on social media. Word spread. In less than 24 hours, a family who had been looking for their stolen dog saw the poster and made contact about her. Tequila made it back home the next day after having been missing from her home for 3 1/2 months. She was found more than 50 miles from home.
I know that not every lost dog will get home this fast and not every story will have this same happy ending. But the value of Helping Lost Pets just cannot be overstated. We know this is an incredible tool for us to both help families post about their post pets and to help animal control personnel and veterinary offices get pets back home where they belong.
As a no kill advocate, I am painfully aware that most of the animals destroyed in shelters in all but the most progressive of communities are healthy and treatable and are just someone’s lost pet. Knowing that we have a new tool in our tool belt to increase return-to-owner rates and avoid the tragic loss of life makes me proud to be part of helping to change lives. These animals may be “just a dog” or “just a cat” to some people. To the people who are looking for them, they are beloved family members and we should do all we can to get them where they belong: home.
Aubrie Kavanaugh
www.Paws4Change.com
www.facebook.com/MarshallCountyAnimalControlAlabama/
I have to give you a compliment on how well this has worked for us. The majority of lost and found reports are now coming through your site. There have been several days I come in, get the email alerts, and then see that dog come in the shelter later in the day. It has helped us more quickly get the dogs out of the shelter and back into homes.
William Wise, Director
Walton Co. Animal Control
Monroe GA. USA
Click here to read more testimonials.
#Unite2Reunite