Monthly Archives: November 2014

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 10752093_10205148870672529_1897965488_nassumed 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 10808265_10203498734689201_1875989022_nstrongly 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.

Hoss’s Story – How One Lost German Shepherd Brought Home Another German Shepherd

On May 31, 2013, Dawn and Roger from Michigan received a phone call saying Hoss,  who just had been adopted out,  had gone missing and had been missing for a week. Immediately Dawn submitted a Lost Dogs Illinois lost dog report. Days, weeks and months passed but they never gave up hope.

Now fast forward to two weeks ago to the North Shore Posse Team (dedicated to finding Holly, 10735790_10205304818369014_191045168_nthe German Shepherd from Wilmette, who went missing in July 2013), which received a sighting of a German Shepherd fitting Holly’s description. They sprung into action; flyered the area and got more sightings. They then set up a trail camera in the area where she has been known to frequent.   The camera did show a German shepherd but it was not Holly.

Lea, one of the volunteers, decided to check the Lost Dogs Illinois dog database to see if there were any GSDs fitting the dog on the camera. She found Hoss and posted the picture to the group. Also Hoss had gone missing only 5.5 miles where he was now found. They were pretty sure it was Hoss so they contacted Dawn and Roger who confirmed this was their dog.

Hoss Nick

Trail camera picture that was used to identify Hoss. 10/24/14

Roger and Dawn then came down the next weekend and camped out with their other dog. Hoss would not approach but the trail camera would catch him after they left. Disappointed Roger and Dawn left for Michigan. The North Shore Posse group continued to keep the feeding station going and distributed the following letter to explain what was needed to be done by the neighborhood.

hoss

Cakes and Katie said they would continue to monitor the feeding station and set up the humane trap. They bungeed cord both doors up so Hoss could just walk through the trap to get use to it. Then proceeded to put one door down and leave one door bungeed cord up.

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Hoss entering the trap. 10/29/14

Hoss trap 2

Hoss did not like what was on the floor of his trap and removed it. 10/29/14

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Hoss almost all the way in the trap. 10/30/14

Within a couple days going back to Michigan, Roger came back down to watch the trap. During those nights, Roger witnessed Hoss dragging the blanket out of trap. He was stealing food from the trap. He was just not ready to be trapped.

During this time, Roger was improvising his own trap. Watching the you tube video of Misty’s trap, he put together his own trap for Hoss.   So that night, the humane trap was set and so was Roger’s trap. Early the next morning, Hoss was trapped in Roger’s trap. Roger called Cakes and Katie to have them help him remove Hoss from the trap.

Hoss had only lost 10 lbs thanks to a neighborhood where individuals were throwing out food to him which in turn became his own safe turf.

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Hoss at home!

So what are the lessons learned:

– Dogs are survivors! Hoss had been living in this neighborhood even during the polar vortex. He was mostly a nocturnal dog so most people thought he was a coydog. Hoss’s feeding station and trap was setup at a spot he frequented because he would eat the bread a woman threw out for the raccoons.

– Remember not all lost dogs are homeless! If you see a “lost” dog, be sure to check LDI’s website and search their dog database, call your local animal control or shelter to see if anyone has filed a lost dog report.

– Once this dog was sighted, a plan was made and it was followed. Hoss has established his turf and the team worked with him. They didn’t push him; they just let him be. Simply fed him the same time in the same place every single day.

– AND Never Give Up!

Roger wants to thank the neighborhood where Hoss had settled in. The neighborhood rallied around Hoss and Roger. They fed Roger knowing he was monitoring the trap at night. They also let him borrow their tools to build Hoss’s second trap.

Thank you to the North Shore Posse team for not giving up on Holly and making this a team effort to capture Hoss. Thank you, Katie, for leading the team!

Holly’s Facebook Page