Once a companion animal enters the shelter system, they could be adopted, pulled by a rescue States way, or even euthanized in a short period of time. The number of days varies by jurisdiction. This reality is why locating a lost pet as quickly as possible is vital to improve your odds of being quickly, or even successfully, reunited. At the same time, the places where lost and found pets are listed/posted are many. While these efforts are all important tools for a distraught pet owner, the result is what we call the “bucket effect”. Diverse “buckets” of lists of lost/found pets.
Without an integrated master registry of lost and found pets, we are not doing all we can! When all of the vital lost.found pet efforts coordinate with such a registry that can be searched and shared, we will serving the community of lost pet owners with a way to quickly and effectively search for their beloved pets.
A Personal Story from the founder of Generation Wags and U2R:
How my journey with reuniting lost pets began:
Like many who have adopted rescue animals, I knew it was the right thing to do when I was looking to bring a pet into my home. My knowledge related to how these animals entered the rescue system was limited, as was the broad expanse of issues that dedicated animal advocates tackle every day.
About seven years ago that changed. As I became more personally involved with animal shelters and rescue groups I became familiar with their struggles, so I decided to utilize my communications skills to try and educate others. At that time GenerationWags.com was born.
When I first became active in working to provide awareness about the prevention side of rescue through responsible pet ownership, lost dogs was not at the top of my list. That changed when I personally became involved in helping to search for a local lost dog. Through my efforts to assist in the search for “Madeline” my eyes were opened to the significant number of pets that go missing each and every day. It also made me realize how scattered and harrowing an experience it is for the frantic pet owner trying to find their pet.
Lost dogs or “strays” pass through shelter doorways on a never-ending basis.
On a good day, the dog is scanned for a microchip (even in unexpected areas of the body) and a chip is detected! Better yet, it is currently registered with the owner’s information. Sadly, too many times this is not the outcome. Many dogs are not microchipped, and of those that are, only about 50% are currently registered.
Once those dogs are in the shelter system, the clock starts ticking. Stray hold periods — as short as 72 hours in some states — provide a very short window of time for the owner to find and reclaim their pet. Nationwide, an average of just 20% of lost dogs in shelters will be reunited with their owners.
The Power of ONE
Lost Dogs of America and HeLPingLostPets.com (a free, national map-based and integrated lost and found database) are collaborating as they recognize the need for, and the Power of ONE.
While there are a multitude of lost and found pets sites and Facebook pages (all of which serve their own value and importance), without an integrated and free national database, frantic pet owners searching for lost pets are subject to what I refer to as the “bucket effect” of lost pets. Each site or database of lost/found pets creates a separate “bucket”. With the coordinated efforts of Lost Dogs of America and HeLP, lost and found pets can be uploaded by owners and finders into the HeLP database at the time they are also posting to the Lost Dogs of America FB pages which now encompass (insert #) of states.
In addition, the LDOA and HeLP offer FREE assistance in tracking down dead-end microchips via their site microchiphelp.com.
At the same time, HeLP works with shelters and rescues interested in their pioneering power of ONE network, to automatically have their incoming pets uploaded into the HeLP database.
I recall when I first became aware of HeLP founder Rob Goddard several years ago. I was struck by his vision and determination to create this sorely needed free database. which he has grown and advanced to incorporate increasing capabilities, filters and his willingness to work directly with shelters to make the database work as a free tool, all with the goal of reuniting more lost pets.
Imagine how much easier for all parties if ALL lost and found pets were accessible for FREE on a map-based system that knows no State borders, or time constraints.
The rescue community has expanded in so many ways and shelters are increasingly incorporating Pet Retention Programs to help stave off more pets overwhelming the shelter/rescue system.
A similar effort must develop to help reunite more lost pets.
We hope you will join OUR effort to Unite 2 Reunite!