Tag Archives: lost dogs

Keeping our Fans in the Loop – Revisit the ordinance to reduce the stray hold.

As promised we are keeping our supporters updated with our pursuit in having the Chicago Mayor and Aldermen revisit the ordinance to reduce the stray hold for cats and dogs.

Last week our director sent this email to Mayor Emanuel, Susana Mendoza and the 50 Aldermen:

“The citizens of Chicago have spoken and are continuing to speak out against the ordinance to reduce the stray hold for cats and dogs. There are currently over 10,000 signatures on the petition to revisit the ordinance for reducing the stray hold for cats and dogs in Chicago.

There was NO discussion regarding how this was going to affect the hundreds of thousands of citizens and their loved family pets. This new ordinance just made it harder for families to find their lost pets. The issue at Chicago Animal Care and Control (CACC) is their extremely low Return To Owner (RTO) rate of 15% for dogs and 0% for cats and that is what needs to be addressed. Many cities and counties (even in Illinois) have RTO rates of 50% or more for dogs and 3-13% for cats. Common sense dictates that by getting owned strays back home it saves taxpayers’ money. An added benefit is increased goodwill and public press for CACC and Chicago.

Please take a minute to read Lost Dogs Illinois blogs:

Update: Revisiting the ordinance to reduce the stray hold

Revisit the ordinance to reduce the stray hold

Please feel free to contact me.”

Again, they did not take the time to do their homework in making a decision which affects thousands of citizens in both Chicago and Cook County. Please continue to put pressure on the Mayor and the aldermen. Be clear with your message and ask them to revisit the ordinance.

Thank you

Use Facebook to Help Increase Your Shelter’s Return to Owner Rate

Many animal shelters in America have contracts with local municipalities to hold “stray” dogs for the state-mandated stray hold to give owners an opportunity to reclaim their lost dog. This period of time varies from state to state.

A shelter typically has two windows of opportunity to help people find their lost dog:

When a person who has lost a dog comes in or calls to file a report.
When “stray” dogs are picked up and impounded at the facility.

Today we want to talk about using Facebook to maximum potential to help lost dogs get home. We are thrilled to see so many shelters and animal control facilities (big and small) using Facebook to try to reunite lost dogs with their owners.

We have been in the Facebook game since our inception in early 2010 and we’ve seen a lot of changes along the way. We have gained a large following and have learned many lessons from our successes and failures. We have seen what does and doesn’t work. We have also seen some shelters start to post impounded found dogs on Facebook and then stop, claiming that it isn’t working or that it requires too much time.

We would respectfully like to offer some suggestions that may help make everyone happy: shelter management, the taxpayer, the shelter donor and volunteer, the dog’s owner and of course the dog that gets to go back home!

The benefits of posting found dogs on Facebook are numerous:

You will decrease the length of stay for animals in your shelter.
You will free up space for needier animals.
You will increase your shelter’s reputation and goodwill (and possibly generate donations from grateful owners and fans). Nothing tugs at heartstrings better than happy reunion photos when an owner reclaims their dog. Make sure you have a camera handy!
You will become a resource in the community for owners who are missing their dogs. Post articles and tips to help people find their missing dogs. Also post happy reunion stories, microchip clinics in the area, and lost pet flyers for members of your community who are missing their pet.
You will help your community make a “paradigm shift” that not all stray dogs are homeless.

If your “stray” intake is low use your main Facebook page to post them. The beauty of posting lost and found dogs on Facebook is that a neighbor or complete stranger might “happen chance” to see the post of the found dog and know where he/she belongs. Or, they might see the lost dog and then see the post.

Yes, the people that are actively matching (the owner, our volunteers and members of the public who enjoy doing this) will seek out the info where ever it is stored, whether it be on a website or a separate Facebook page but that only takes care of the actual matches (where a lost report matches a found report) which is still a fairly small percentage of the reunions.

The best chance for a “happen chance” reunion is to get the posting in front of the biggest audience possible, which is almost always your main Facebook page that you use for all of your shelter Facebook posts. Pictures of impounded pets are one of the most widely shared posts on Facebook (much more than adoptable pets) so posting them on your main Facebook page has the added benefit of driving traffic to your page so that your adoptables, fundraisers, etc. are also more likely to be seen.

A common mistake we see is shelters that try to run a separate Facebook page for found pets and then not actively working to build the fan base of that page. The average person is not going to stumble across the Found or Stray page by accident and Facebook does not make it easy to search. So you will only reach those that are actively looking for your page and the likelihood of “happen chance” reunions will be greatly diminished.

If your shelter has such a high intake of “strays” that posting them on your main page is not feasible, then yes, perhaps setting up a separate Facebook page is the best solution.

Here are a few suggestions if you set up a separate page:

Make sure that you include your location name and county in the title of the Facebook page. Make it as easy as possible for people to find it. Include it on your website and in any literature you distribute.
Include links to the Stray page in the “About Us” section of your main Facebook page.
Drive traffic to the Stray page at least once per day (more at the beginning) by sharing a post from it onto your main page and reminding your fans that “All impounded pets at xxxx shelter can be seen by visiting our Stray page”. Use hotlinks and Facebook tags whenever possible so that people can just click and be taken directly to the new page.
Ask one or two volunteers to help you with this page and give them full access to it. They should engage with the fans and commenters. It’s called “social” media for a reason! Make sure they answer every question and respond to comments. Get your community actively engaged in helping reunite found pets!
Volunteer Facebook administrators can also share the posts on other neighborhood pages – including police departments, newspapers, radio stations, vet clinics, dog parks, town pages, garage sale pages, buy/sell pages and popular neighborhood hangouts like bars and restaurants. This can quickly increase the fan base of your page and makes an excellent and rewarding volunteer opportunity for someone who cannot make it into the shelter to do hands-on work.
Do not get discouraged if the public offers to adopt the dog rather than trying to find the owner. Create some standard responses that your volunteers can copy and paste below these comments. And remember! You are lining up potential adopters if an owner does not come forward.
Link your “Stray” page to a Twitter account with a free Facebook app that will automatically retweet everything you post. Once it is set up it is seamless and maintenance free. You will reach a much broader audience especially if you use hashtags in front of the location. Many police departments and media outlets monitor twitter via hashtag and will retweet your posts for lost and found dogs.

Thank you for helping more lost dogs get home! You can find more tips to help increase your Return to Owner rate in this blog post: Reuniting Lost Dogs with Their Families – How Shelters Can Help

Update: Revisiting the ordinance to reduce the stray hold for cats and dogs in Chicago

We, at Lost Dogs Illinois, feel it is important to keep you informed on what is going with trying to revisit the ordinance to reduce the stray hold of dogs and cats in Chicago.

Last Thursday our Director attended the open meeting of the Commission (advisory board) for the City of Chicago Animal Care and Control. She read the following statement:

“Good Morning! I am Susan Taney, Director of Lost Dogs Illinois. As many of you know, LDI is a not for profit organization that provides resources and tools to help families find their lost dogs. We saw the need to help Illinois residents in the recovery of their lost dogs. Many people give up, do not have the resources to help them, do not know where their animal control facility is located or the money to pay for a professional “pet detective”. In less than five years, over 15,000 dogs have been reunited with their families.

We were very dismayed to learn after the fact that the City of Chicago Budget committee had passed the ordinance to reduce the stray hold. On LDI’s Facebook page, we asked our supporters to contact the Mayor and Aldermen. I attended the City Council meeting with our supporters to only find out that there was no public discussion allowed at the meeting. Another aldermen also had told us that the ordinance was going to be tabled for more discussion. The ordinance was passed with no public comment.

After trying to find out when the ordinance was going to be implemented. I FOIA’d (Freedom of Information Act) City of Chicago Animal Care and Control and received the following message – “See Attached and the link to the ordinance” Then I asked the City Clerk’s office – they gave me the link. Again, no implementation date was set. I did not find out the implementation date until the Prince Charming blog. There was nothing provided to the hundreds of thousands of Chicago residents with beloved family pet members letting them know that the ordinance had been changed. Chicago citizens pay taxes; their taxes fund CACC. CACC is supposed to provide services to the citizens.

I also want to share that two years ago Kathy Pobloskie, Director of LDOW, and I met with the CACC senior management staff to provide suggestions for free and low cost ways to increase the return to owner rates. We offered to train their volunteers. I also presented a PowerPoint presentation to CASA about Lost Dogs Illinois in regards to our program. Our goal is to make Chicago shine and be one of the best cities to live in and know that the Chicago residents who have animals as loved family pets will be treated with respect and dignity. We have received so many testimonials from families saying they did not know what to do, where to look and now CACC has only made it more difficult for residents to find their lost animals. There needs to be a balance between people who have lost their dogs and the truly homeless dogs that needs to be rescued.
To conclude, we are very disappointed that there was no public discussion allowed when this ordinance was passed. There has not been any kind of public information campaign. This ordinance is vague. There are so many unanswered questions. I have attached my blog in regards to questions about this ordinance. I request that all these questions be answered in a public forum. Thank you for allowing me to speak.”

Attached are the handouts that was given in the packet to the members of the Commission for the City of Chicago Animal Care and Control .

LDI Blog – Revisit the ordinance to reduce the stray hold period for cats and dogs in Chicago.

LDI Blog – Where Oh Where could my lost dog be held in Cook County

LDI Blog – Part 2 Where Oh Where could my lost dog be held in Cook County

LDI believes that knowledge is power. Be sure to read our blogs. Be informed. You are your animals’ advocate. They are depending on you! The Mayor and Aldermen have the power to change this ordinance. We ask that you continue to call, email, and even set up appointments to discuss your concerns. Continue to share the petition.

City of Chicago Aldermen

rahm.emanuel@cityofchicago.org Mayor

Together we can make an impact for Chicagoans and their loved cat and dog family members.

Former Director, Mitch Schneider

Pebbles and the Good Samaritans who did not give up!

Pebbles

On an early January evening, while cooking dinner, one of my dogs started barking like crazy at our front door. I went to see why she was barking, and saw a black & white dog in the driveway across the street. I immediately went out and tried to call her, but she just looked at me, went up the driveway and was gone. I rang my neighbor’s doorbell and told them about her. They informed me that they had been seeing her for a couple of weeks. I called Animal Control because I thought it might be someone’s dog from our neighborhood. When the Animal Control officer arrived they did a “drive-by”, didn’t see her, and left. I checked Lost Dogs Illinois’ website to see if I could find any similar dogs that had been posted as missing in the previous two weeks with no luck.

A couple of days went by without a sighting. That Saturday we decided to walk around the neighborhood to see if we could spot her, and we did! We called Animal Control again. When the officer arrived I gave him a description of the dog. He informed me that they had been looking for the same dog for 6-8 weeks. I went back on the Lost Dogs Illinois website to search for missing dogs back to November or December. That is when I saw Pebbles. She had been missing since November 24^th from Carpentersville. I wasn’t sure if that was really the dog I was seeing because we live in Elgin. We are about 10 miles from where she was last spotted. Could this really be Pebbles?

At first we were unsure if we should contact the person who posted her to LDI’s page. We weren’t positive it was Pebbles, because she wouldn’t let us get close enough to get a good look, but the similarities were uncanny. Our thought was “some hope is better than no hope” so we got in contact with Rayann, Pebbles’ foster mom. She informed us that Pebbles had gotten out while on a trial adoption with a family in Carpentersville.

Rayann and another woman came out the next night to help us search for her. We had no luck that night, but told Rayann we would not stop trying and would text her if we spotted Pebbles again. Steve spent countless hours tracking and searching the neighborhood. He was out there in a blizzard, and on many below-zero nights, hoping to find signs of where she was sheltering. He had a few leads, but never truly found her it. Pebbles did lead him on a couple of nice long walks around the neighborhood as she darted in between houses and through yards.

We then set up a feeding station at our house, handed out flyers, and knocked on peoples’ doors to generate sightings. It turned out that a lot of people had seen Pebbles. We installed video cameras at our house so we could watch and record when the dog was coming to eat. The first time we got her on video, I sent it to Rayann, and she confirmed it was in fact Pebbles!

At that point, we weren’t sure how we were going to catch her. That’s when I saw a post on LDI’s Facebook page about a dog that had been missing for a year and was recently caught. I commented on the post saying how it gave us hope about catching Pebbles. Susan Taney and Katie Campbell replied to my comment and from there we started messaging on Facebook.

Susan informed me that she had a trap we could borrow. The next night, Susan drove out to our house and showed us how to set the trap and explained how to lure Pebbles into it. We spent two weeks slowly moving the feeding station into the trap. Then, at 3:59am on February 22^nd Pebbles worked up the nerve to go all the way into the trap. She set off the trap but, unfortunately, the trap door bounced and she was able to get out. Our hearts were broken. The next day we started the process of slowly moving the feeding station into the trap again. Pebbles was now so leery of the trap that she wouldn’t go anywhere near it. It was time to devise a new plan.

After consulting with Susan and Katie, we decided it would be best to try and get her into our backyard. My husband, Steve, is very handy and extremely talented when it comes to thinking outside the box and putting those ideas into motion. He thought that if we could get her into our backyard and figure out a way to get the gate to close behind her, we could catch her. He rigged up a whole pulley system with ropes and bungee cords tied to our gate, with the other end of the rope tied to a frozen hot dog. Pebbles had a history of taking the food we left out for her and running off with it to eat somewhere else. If she tried to take the hot dog and run she would set off the trap, and the gate door would close behind her before she could get out. Once again, Pebbles outsmarted us. She came into our back yard several times, but each time decided to lie down and enjoy her hot dogs in peace. Again, it was time to figure out a new plan.

Steve made some adjustments to his design, and decided that he was going to attach a rope to the gate and bring it up to the front porch of our house. We were hopeful that when we saw her on the camera in the backyard, we could go out front and pull the rope to close the gate. We tried this every night for about a week, but Pebbles would never come when we were awake. She somehow knew exactly when we went to bed and would show up about 10 minutes later. We nicknamed her “Santa” because she “knew when we were sleeping and when we were awake”. She would then wander around our yard and peacefully eat her hot dogs.

Finally, on March 17^th, Steve decided he was going to stay up late to see if she would come. It was around midnight when he saw her on the camera. Her head popped through the open gate and she looked around. She then came all the way into the yard and started sniffing around. Steve immediately went out our front door and pulled the rope with all his might to shut the gate. The gate was closed and she was now in our back yard! I was awakened when he said “I got her…she’s in the back yard!” I instantly called Rayann to tell her the news. She was so excited that she got dressed and headed out our way. Now we had to try to get the slip lead on her, and it wasn’t going to be easy. Pebbles is extremely fearful of people…even those whom she had been seeing and smelling, and who were feeding her daily.

I messaged Katie and Susan for advice. Katie suggested one of us go out there with food, sit down, and slowly scooch our way toward Pebbles. I armed myself with a bowl of cut up hot dogs and headed to the backyard. I sat down and had Pebbles in my sight, never making direct eye contact with her. I used yawning and lip licking as calming signals, while pretending to eat the hot dog pieces and gently tossing some to her. Every couple of minutes I would scooch a little closer and she would move away a little more. After about an hour and a half I was able to get her in the corner behind our garage and shed. She let me get close enough that I could softly pet her and tell her it was going to be ok. I pulled the slip lead out of my pocket and gently slid it over her head. She never resisted. She knew her ordeal was over and she was safe. I called Steve to let him know that he and Rayann could come outside. Rayann was so happy to see Pebbles, and Pebbles was happy to see her too! We were all in tears.

Pebbles and Amy

On March 18^th at 2:00am, after three months, several failed attempts, a blizzard, below zero temperatures, accidentally trapping a raccoon, and overwhelming concern for her safety, Pebbles was finally safe! Pebbles is now in her forever home with Rayann (who is going to adopt her!) and all of her doggie siblings. She got a bath, a new collar and tags, and is proudly strutting around showing everyone. A very happy ending to a long adventure for everyone!

Pebbles and Rayann — Home At Last!

Thank you Amy for sharing your story! You and Steve rock as Good Samaritans!

Revisit the ordinance to reduce the stray hold period for cats and dogs in Chicago

As most of our followers know, we supported and reposted the petition for Mayor Emanuel and Chicago City Council to revisit the ordinance to reduce the stray hold period for cats and dogs. We want to explain why we agree with the petition.

Last November we voiced our concerns on our Facebook page about the ordinance being passed by the budget committee. We asked our supporters to contact their aldermen and the Mayor to ask them to table it for public discussion. The next Wednesday our director attended the meeting to voice her concerns during public comments and was dismayed to find out that no public comments were allowed. The resolution was passed with 49 ayes. Alderman Pope moved to reconsider the foregoing vote. Motion was lost.

What could have been done differently?

First of all, the Mayor and the Aldermen could have set aside the ordinance and asked the Commission of Chicago Animal Care and Control (advisory board) to research ways to increase the return-to- owner rates for Chicago Animal Care and Control (CACC).

Here are some ideas that other cities have adopted to increase their return-to-owners rates. (tax dollars being spent wisely)

Offer a “Free Ride Home Program.” Milwaukee, Kansas City, and Washoe County (NV) have similar programs. Animal Care staff will give a pet one free ride home per year if it is wearing a City pet license. No ticket will be issued for the first time licensed pets run at large. This puts licensing in a positive light showing the benefits of what it can do for an owner and their pet.
Offer free or low cost ($5.00) microchip clinics. Washoe County, Nevada offered one year of free microchips and saw a 30% increase in their return to owner rates. (Side note: CA based Found Animal Foundation offers $4.95 microchip with free lifetime registration) In a recent study of US animal shelters, 52.2% of stray dogs and 38.5% stray cats with registered microchips were reunited.
ID Me programs – ASPCA study found shelters that provide engraved ID tags with collars at the time of adoption or redemption show that pet owners will keep the collar w/tags on their pets which provides instant identification.

These are just a few simple suggestions to increase a shelter’s return-to- owner rate. There are many more.

We would like to have these questions answered regarding the reduced stray hold:

Where was the discussion on how this would affect hundreds of thousands of families and their loved family pets in Chicago?
What are the safeguards if a family of a dog or cat of “unknown ownership” comes in after the stray hold with proof of ownership? Can they get their dog or cat back? What is the procedure?

Animal Welfare League (AWL) is the one of three non-city agencies that holds animals for City of Chicago. They do not post photos of found animals. Are the animals held for 3 days at AWL and then transferred to CACC to be held for another 3 days or does the stray hold clock start clicking at AWL.
Because the new ordinance states “In the event the executive director determines that an animal of unknown ownership suffers from severe behavioral issues, the executive director may allow any disposition, of the animal after three days.” What is the definition of severe behavioral issues? What are the qualifications of the person who is determining these behavioral issues?
Finally, where was the public campaign to explain this ordinance to citizens who considered their pets loved family members?

Many lost pets go unclaimed because it is virtually impossible for the average citizen to figure out the “system” in Chicago and Cook County. The owners are looking, but not in the right place, they don’t know where to look and the shelters make the false assumption that the animal is a “stray” or has been “dumped”. Factor in that a large percentage of the urban population speak limited English, have limited finances, transportation and computer access. They may work two jobs or shift work, and cannot visit the stray holding facility during normal business hours. This makes it difficult for people to claim their animals. The reduced stray hold exacerbates the problem.

Again, we are asking that you continue to sign and share the petition. Please send in your questions and comments to your aldermen and the Mayor. Thank you for your support and taking the time to read our blog.

City of Chicago Aldermen

rahm.emanuel@cityofchicago.org Mayor

@ChicagosMayor Twitter

Mayor’s Facebook Page

susana.mendoza@cityofchicago.org City Clerk

City Clerk’s Facebook Page

When NOT to Use a Tracking Dog to Find a Lost Dog

Photo courtesy of K McPherson

The idea of using a tracking dog to find a lost dog is very compelling, but most people who pursue this option do not have a good understanding of how a tracking (or trailing) dog works. In some cases a tracking dog CAN provide useful information for locating a lost dog such as confirming sightings or establishing a direction of travel. However, very few lost dogs are actually found and captured during the search (i.e. a “walk-up find”), which is what most people are hoping for when they hire a tracking dog team.

What many people do not consider is that there are actually some cases when you should NOT try to use a tracking dog to find a lost dog. In these situations a tracking dog is not only a waste of money, but they can actually be detrimental to finding and catching the lost dog. The situations where you should not use a tracking dog to find a lost dog include most cases where there are multiple sightings of the lost dog in a general area, and the dog is running in fear from everyone. This most often occurs with newly adopted dogs and skittish lost dogs. However, even an otherwise friendly dog can enter what is known as “survival mode” (where they run from all people including those that they know) if they are lost in a frightening situation (such as a car crash) or if they are on the run for several days, especially if people attempt to chase or capture them. Sometimes these lost dogs will run for several miles (1-5 is common and 10 or more miles is not unheard of), but in most cases the lost dog will eventually settle down in a place where they feel safe. Generally this safe place is somewhere with food, water, shelter, and (very importantly) where people are not attempting to approach or catch them. In some cases the lost dog will actually circle around and come back to close to where they went missing.

If you you get multiple sighting (even 2-3) of the lost dog in a general area (hopefully less than 1 mile apart), then the lost dog has likely found a safe place to hide out. The last thing that you want to do in this situation is chase the dog out of his newly found haven. If you use a tracking dog, they may help you find out where your dog has been taking shelter and getting food, but in the process you may scare your dog out of the safe place. Likewise, it is a very bad idea to have human search teams go into this area and look for the lost dog, especially if it is a wooded area. Even if they see the dog, they are most likely going to scare him out of the area. In either of these situations, the lost dog may feel pressured to leave the area and find a new safe place, perhaps miles away.

In these types of cases, it is very important to leave the dog alone and encourage others to report sightings, but not to approach or attempt to catch the dog. Most of these dogs are ultimately caught using lure and capture techniques such as feeding stations, calming signals, surveillance cameras and/or humane traps.

Thank you Danielle of Lost Pet Research and Recovery for giving us permission to use her article.

Part 2 – Where Oh Where Could My Lost Dog Be Held in Cook County?

As a follow-up to our first article, Where Oh Where Could My Lost
Dog Be Held in Cook County, we wanted to share a prime example of hard it is to find your missing dog in Cook County.

Harley went missing in Garfield Ridge. He was taken to Cicero Animal Control by the finder, transferred to Animal Welfare League for placement and then pulled by Trio Animal Foundation (TAF). Luckily TAF created a miracle by taking the extra few minutes to research the chip. They realized Harley didn’t need a new home; he needed to go home. TAF was his advocate! Harley’s story illustrates how broken the current animal control system is.

We feel it is important for our fans to get the total picture of the problem. Why should you care? Let’s start with distinctions. Chicago Animal Control is often confused with Cook County Animal Control. Chicago Animal Care and Control (CACC) is located at 2741 S. Western Avenue in Chicago. Cook County Animal and Rabies Control (CCARC) has no facility. So you may find it as absurd as we do that all the rabies tag money, along with fines, fees, etc. fund Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies Control. The City of Chicago, along with the other municipalities in Cook County, are stuck funding their own services, mostly through taxpayers. City of Chicago Animal Care and Control is funded by taxpayers, fees, fines, and services rendered, etc. If you live anywhere in Cook County, you should demand best practices and better services from both organizations for the betterment of animals and residents alike.

Here are some facts about (1) City of Chicago Animal Care and Control and (2) Cook County Animal and Rabies Control.

City of Chicago Animal Care and Control (CACC)

– Has a dismal return to owner (RTO) rate of 15% for dogs. Some animal control facilities in Illinois have an over 50% RTO for dogs.

– CACC has reduced the stray holding period from 5 days to 3 days meaning owned family dogs will be adopted, transferred or killed quicker.

– Microchips are not registered to the owners at time of adoption and redemption. We believe that CACC should as a service registered the chips to the owners. We are amazed when we provide free scans at events; the majority of owners really don’t understand the nuances of microchips.

Cook County Animal and Rabies Control (CCARC)

– Rabies tag information is kept at their office. Office hours are Monday-Friday (8:30 – 4:30). So if your dog is taken to a vet clinic, City of Chicago Animal Care and Control, Animal Welfare League, etc. or kept by a Good Samaritan, on a Friday night; they are not able to research the tag until Monday morning. This creates more stress for the owner and owner’s dog and if the dog is held in a facility, an owner has to pay more money to reclaim his/her dog.

– Cook County Animal and Rabies Control provide low cost microchip clinics. Chips are not registered to owners. Again, we believe that CCARC should as a service registered the chip for the owners. We are always amazed when we provide free scans at events; the majority of owners really don’t understand the nuances of microchips.

– Cook County has no facility to hold dogs for Cook County.

– Cook County’s stray holding facilities are not listed on their website. This simple step would help the public look for their dogs. http://www.cookcountyil.gov/animal-rabies-control-home/

– There is NO database of photos/descriptions of animals being held in stray holding facilities in Cook County.

How do we resolve the issues of Cook County’s animal control system? Speak out strongly to your local elected officials about this issue. Our pets are family and we deserve the right to know where they are being housed. Simple changes like posting “found” dogs pictures on social media, registering microchips to the owner at the time of adoption or redemption or posting the list of stray holding facilities on each website can make a huge difference to improve Return to Owner rates

Cook County Commissioners

City of Chicago Commissioners

Where Oh Where Could My Lost Dog be Held in Cook County?

Cook County, Illinois, population 5.2 million encompasses 1635 square miles and includes the City of Chicago, the third most populous city in the United States (2.7 million citizens).

If you assume that Cook County residents mirror the national average, then over 65% of households own a pet. With many households owning more than one pet, it can be safely assumed that there are potentially several million owned pets in Cook County, Illinois.

When these pets go missing, where do they go? Where are they taken? That’s where the real mystery begins.

Since dogs and cats have four legs and walk, we can safely assume that many lost pets venture outside of their local “jurisdiction”. There are over 130 municipalities (excluding Chicago) in Cook County. These municipalities have “stray holding” agreements with various facilities including shelters, vet clinics, and police departments. These facilities do not cross-communicate with each other. In fact, most of these facilities do not even post photos online of the lost pets they have impounded. It is also very common for a Good Samaritan who finds a lost pet to take it to the “wrong” facility (outside of the jurisdiction where it was found), complicating matters even further.

Many lost pets go unclaimed because it is virtually impossible for the average citizen to figure out the “system”. The owners are looking, but not in the right place and the shelters make the false assumption that the animal is a “stray” or has been “dumped”. Then factor in that a large percentage of the urban population speak limited English, have limited finances, transportation and computer access. They may work two jobs or shift work, and cannot visit the stray holding facility during normal business hours. If by a stroke of luck, a lost pet IS located, reclaim fees are often so high that the owner can not afford them. (For example, fees at Golf Rose Animal Hospital are as high $35 per night for some contracted cities).

Unfortunately, the outcome for many of these pets is death. “Pet Overpopulation” is blamed, and efforts to increase adoptions and speedy transfers to rescue groups are introduced. These pets don’t need a new home. They already have one. They need to go home.

Here is a limited sampling of some of the stray holding facilities in Cook County. If you live in any of the cities or municipalities that are not listed, please call your local non-emergency police number and ask where a stray animal is held. Then call the facility and ask if they post pictures of impounded pets on their Facebook page or website. When you have gathered this information please email it to us at lostdogsil@gmail.com so we can update our list.

City of Chicago Animal Care and Control. Found pets are posted on Petharbor but not on any social media sites. There is no proactive program in place to get lost pets back home. Owners must wait for guided group “tours” of the facility to see if they recognize their impounded pet.

Cook County Animal and Rabies Control – No facility. No listing on their website to indicate where the lost pets for the over 130 municipalities in Cook County are taken. No database of “found” animal pictures. No pictures on social media.

Animal Welfare League holds “found” animals for the unincorporated section of Cook County and maybe other cities. No listing of which municipalities contract their services are on their website. No pictures of “found” animals on their website or Facebook page.

Golf Rose Animal Hospital is the holding facility for the following:

– Schaumburg – Hoffman Estates

– Palatine – Elgin

– Barrington Hills – South Barrington

– Arlington Heights – Rolling Meadows

– Roselle – Mt. Prospect

– Carpentersville – South Elgin (part time)

– Elk Grove Village (Emergency Medical Only)

– Certain unincorporated areas of Cook County

No pictures are posted on Golf Rose Facebook page or website. As far as we know, there are no pictures posted on any City Facebook pages.

How do we resolve the issues of Cook County’s animal control system? Please speak out strongly to your local elected officials about this issue. They are our pets, and we deserve the right to know where they are being housed. Simple changes like posting “found” dogs pictures on social media/website or posting the list of stray holding facilities website can make a huge difference.

Bobbi “Marley” Story

Rescue is never ever what we anticipate.

We have literally been through hell these last few weeks.

We wanted to share with you that as of tonight, Marley (Mia) has been safely reunited with her rightful owners. It is a very long story, but we can assure you that she is safe, loved and so wanted.

We discovered that Marley’s microchip was misread at the shelter when we tried to register her. We learned that she was reported missing during the Polar Vortex in February 2014. We are still reeling in this discovery.

We had a very difficult decision to make. We’ve long been advocates of keeping animals safe and we have also shared countless stories of lost dogs and reunification.
We wanted to do right by Marley. We knew that she was found in deplorable conditions. It was easy for us to assume the worst. It was easier to believe that she was better off in rescue.

We were faced with a moral and ethical decision. We prayed like crazy and knew that we had to do the right thing and it was up to the owner to show us how much they truly searched and cared for this dog.

With the help of CACC and rescue friends…our prayers were answered.
Records of their search were shown via microchip and at the shelter. Mia’s owner just gave birth on October 1st and was still in the hospital when she received our phone call through the shelter. She literally discharged early, with her new baby and drove directly to the shelter to be reunited. There was no mistake that this dog was loved, wanted and missed. We are thankful that we could witness the reunification and feel the out pour of emotion. We are also grateful that they want us to stay in touch and visit this special angel.

Thank you Making A Difference Rescue for sharing Mia (Marley) story.

https://www.facebook.com/Makingadifferencerescue

Place an Ad in Your Local Newspaper When Your Dog is Missing

One of the most overlooked ways to get the word out about your missing dog is placing an ad in your local newspaper or shopper. Social media has taken the world by storm, providing a cheap, easy way to spread the word; but you must always remember that there are still many people that don’t use computers or social media. It doesn’t do any good to have your dog posted only on Facebook if the person that has found your dog isn’t a Facebook user. So it is really important to use as many different communication methods as possible including flyers, signs, social media, Craigslist, newspaper and radio ads.

The following is a list of Illinois newspapers per township. Remember that lost dogs can travel far and wide. Don’t limit yourself to just one area. Cover surrounding counties as well. Your dog is depending on you to bring him safely home.

Click here for a list of Illinois newspapers:

http://www.usnpl.com/ilnews.php