Author Archives: Susan

Lost Dogs Illinois, Realtors to the Rescue Join Forces at Chicago’s 2016 “Bark in the Park” Event

RTTR and LDI Volunteers
Bark in the Park

Lost Dogs Illinois and Realtors to the Rescue of Homeless Animals teamed to offer free microchip scanning at Chicago’s annual “Bark in the Park” celebration to benefit the Anti-Cruelty Society. Scores of “Bark” dogs and their owners, including many who walked the official 5K course on Lake Shore Drive, stopped by the LDI/RTTR booth to verify that their dogs’ chips were active and properly registered.

“One of the challenges of microchipping is that there are now at least 15 companies offering the product, and not everyone knows which company produced their pet’s chip,” LDI founder Susan Taney said.

“In addition, shelters, pet stores, veterinary clinics, animal hospitals – everyone has a different policy for registering the chip,” Taney continued. “Some will complete the paperwork and submit the registration for the pet owner. Some rely on the owner submitting the paperwork. Some chip companies don’t even keep track of to whom the chip is registered. So it’s always good for a pet owner to know exactly what he or she has purchased, and how it can help a lost pet return home.”

Writing down the chip ID number for the dog’s owner.

Booth visitors who took advantage of the free service thanked LDI and RTTR repeatedly for offering this kind of help. Even better, a number of dog owners said the service reminded them they needed to update the contact information on their chip registries.

Getting ready to scan a dog.

“We changed our dog’s name after we adopted her, but we forgot to contact the chip company,” one woman said. “We’ll do that right away now.”

“We’ve moved recently but the chip still has our old address, in New York!” another woman said. “Wow, we’ve got to change that fast.”

Taney and RTTR member Suzy Thomas indicated afterwards they would like their two organizations to collaborate on similar events in the future that can raise the public’s awareness of the importance of microchipping their pets and making sure they wear ID tags with correct contact information.

“It’s all about doing what you can to protect the human-animal bond,” Taney said.

Preserving the human/animal bond.

by Lydia Rypcinski

LDI Tips, Supporters Help Bring Rosie Home After 11 Days

Rosie snoozing

Susan Hochgraber was so thrilled to see her Belgian Malinois again after 11 days that she almost didn’t mind the “guests” Rosie brought home with her.

Almost.

“Ugh, the emergency vet found 20 ticks on her the day we got her back,” Hochgraber said. “Then 10 more the next day, and our regular vet found eight more after that. Other than the ticks and a few cuts on her paws, though, she was OK.”

Hochgraber, a canine massage therapist from Midlothian, Ill., had barely had time to get to know the dog she rescued January 15, 2016 before Rosie escaped on April 12.

“Rosie had been rescued from the streets. It took a week and a half just to get her comfortable living with me,” Hochgraber said. “We had just finished her third week of obedience training when she escaped.”

Hochgraber had noticed that Rosie was beginning to jump at fences, so she instructed her dog walker to take off Rosie’s leash only after she had gotten the dog into the house. But the dog walker unleashed Rosie in the yard that day.

Rosie promptly jumped Hochgraber’s 4-ft.-high fence into a neighbor’s yard, and then double-jumped the neighbor’s gate fence into the street. She was gone in a flash.

Hochgraber turned to Lost Dogs Illinois, FindFido’s service, Facebook, friends and neighbors, police departments in surrounding suburbs, and Perfect Pooches, a Chicago-area dog rescue and adoption agency, for advice on getting Rosie back.

“I did everything everyone suggested – flyers, postings, everything,” Hochgraber said. “People reported a lot of sightings, particularly around a park about two blocks from my house, and especially around one of the five ball fields at that park.”

People also reported seeing Rosie along the Metra railroad tracks that run between Midlothian and Robbins. Rosie apparently followed those tracks down to Robbins, where a woman named Charita lives with her family.

“Charita had seen our flyer and called me when she saw Rosie on April 21,” Hochgraber said. “I drove to Robbins, turned a corner and saw Rosie out in a field.”

Hochgraber called out to her dog, which got Rosie’s attention; but when she made a move towards her, the dog bolted in the opposite direction.

Volunteers from Perfect Pooches helped Hochgraber set up humane traps and round-the-clock surveillance in Charita’s backyard and near an abandoned house next to her home. They figured it might be Rosie’s “quiet place,” where she went for the night.

Hochgraber placed Rosie’s blankets in the traps, as well as towels that had the scent of her other dog, a German Shepherd named Buddy. The volunteers baited the traps with some of Rosie’s toys and treats like hot dogs and BBQ chicken from KFC.

The first night, Rosie managed to get the food and even lie on a blanket left inside the trap without tripping the door. The next night, she lay down next to the trap.

Is this a trap?

The third night, April 23, Rosie lay down inside the trap. stretched out, and tripped the gate door shut. The volunteer on duty waited five minutes to make sure Rosie was inside before calling Hochgraber with the good news.

Rosie almost trapped

Hochgraber said she plans to replace her 4-ft. fence with a 6-footer. She put a GPS collar with a tracker on Rosie, “and she is always on leash now when she goes out,” Hochgraber said.

“I’m grateful to Lost Dogs Illinois for all the help and support I got,” Hochgraber said. “LDI suggested things I wouldn’t have thought of doing, such as putting flyers up at gas stations and other high-traffic locations. I am also grateful to all the people who came out and helped me search for my baby girl.”

She added that the people who follow the LDI Facebook page were nothing short of “amazing” with all their reports of sightings and notes of encouragement.

“Their support helped me get through 11 days of hell,” Hochgraber said.

by Lydia Rypcinski

Lost Dogs Illinois, Chicago Police 16th District Co-Host Successful Microchip/ID Tag Clinic

Collage

Dog and cat owners from across Chicagoland took advantage of the free microchip/ID tag clinic offered by Lost Dogs Illinois and the Chicago Police Department on Chicago’s Northwest Side April 9, 2016.

The three-hour clinic, held at the city’s 16^th Police District headquarters in the Jefferson Park neighborhood, resulted in 121 dogs and cats getting chipped and receiving ID tags engraved with the pet’s name and owner’s phone number.

“This is like buying an insurance policy to keep your pet safe,” said Kathy Foley, who brought her rescued Rottweiler, Storm.

Logan Square residents Kestelle Wiersma and Scott Foster brought their cat, Elphaba, and dog, Boxcar.

“My brother’s dog got out last spring,” Wiersma said. “He found it in the next day or so, but that fear – we didn’t want to go through that if ours ever got loose, so that’s why we’re here today.”

“William” brought his Pug/Cocker Spaniel mix, Lucy, with him. He said his friend, a Chicago police officer, called him that morning to let him know what was happening.

“I’m glad she did,” William said. “My family would be devastated if Lucy ever got out and we had no way to track her to get her back.”

Lori and Courtney Jensen drove into the city from north suburban Deerfield with their Chihuahuas, Tigger and Missy. They learned about the clinic on the LDI Facebook page.

“They [Tigger and Missy] try to run away a lot,” Courtney confessed.

“We were at a friend’s house when the UPS guy arrived there,” Lori said. “Tigger went running when our friend opened the front door.”

The Pacheco family – Luis, Sonnet and children – from nearby Portage Park came with their 9-month-old pittie, Samson, and 150-lb. Great Dane, Sasha.

“We saw a flyer at the neighborhood library,” Sonnet said. “We wanted to do this because Samson is a puppy, and puppies like to run. We wanted to make sure he would come back home if he got out.”

Shari Grassmuck, a Chicago Fire Department paramedic who lives near Midway Airport, brought her rescue Dutch Shepherd, Marmaduke. Grassmuck found him “playing with a rock in a mud puddle” one night while on duty on the South Side.

“I think a free microchip event is a wonderful idea,” she said. “A lot of dogs and cats are brought to the fire stations. So many animals get lost, and people either don’t know they can chip them or can’t afford to. “

“If it’s free, they will come,” said 38^th Ward Alderman Ald. Nick Sposato. “As elected officials, we can tap our social media networks to get word out about events like this. It makes it easier for people to do right by their pets – there’s no appointment time, there’s no cost to them.”

Sharon Rolek drove an hour from the far Southeast Side neighborhood of Hegewisch to get three cats chipped and ID’d.

“We don’t have anything like this on the South Side,” said Rolek, who learned about the clinic in an email from Tree House Humane Society. “I hope this event inspires someone to do this out my way.”

Rolek may get her wish soon. Police Lt. John Garrido, one of the linchpins of the April 9 event, said that two other city police districts – the 5^th on the South Side and the 25^th on the Far North Side – have contacted him about holding microchip clinics.

“If there is a need for this kind of service in this area – and there obviously is – then there is a need in every area of the city,” Garrido said. “Sometimes it’s just an issue of cost, and that can be helped through sponsorship of events like this.”

Garrido explained that as the afternoon watch commander for the 16^th District, “I see so many dogs that get out and are brought to our station. I just can’t see them getting put down because we can’t find their owners.

“We have a large social media network in this area and post and share pictures of all the dogs brought to the station,” Garrido added. “We figure we get about 60 percent of them back to their owners.”

Lost Dogs Illinois provided the ID tags and engraving machine, which it was able to purchase through a generous donation from Chicago-based Realtors to the Rescue along with other donations.

Dr. Peter Sakas of Niles (IL) Animal Hospital and staff and volunteers from Chicago Animal Care and Control supervised clinical and administrative activities.

A little chihuahua protesting the chip implant.

“We were very pleased with today’s turnout,” CACC Administrative Services Officer Sue Cappello said. “The 16^th District did a great job of setting the event up for us, and we look forward to working with them again.”

Other event sponsors included Aldermen Margaret Laurino (39^th Ward) and Anthony Napolitano (41^st Ward); Illinois State Senator John Mulroe (10^th District); The Garrido Network; The Gladstone Park Neighborhood Association and the Chamber of Commerce; Delightful Pastries; Midwest Dog People; The Puppy Mill Project; Earth Rated Poop Bags; Allstate Insurance: Jaime Morales; RAS Communications; and the UPS Store @Milwaukee/Devon.

To view more pictures of the clinic, click here

By Lydia Rypcinski

Free Health Fair – Englewood Area (Chicago) – April 2nd

What happens when a City funded animal control (City of Chicago Animal Care and Control), notfor profit organization (Lost Dogs Illinois) and a professional hockey team (Chicago Wolves) join together? They put on a Free Health Fair! Over 300 residents dogs and cats received FREE microchips, vaccines and ID engraved tags. Working together keeps families together!

Duke is home!

Duke being reunited with his family

We are sharing this reunion story because many dogs are not reunited with their owners . It comes down to timing issues (owners & finders stop searching for each other, or search in different places at different times), and because many people don’t have the slightest idea how to begin a search. This is exactly what happened.

In a unexpected turn of events, Duke’s owners were found and the family has been reunited! The owners were out of the country and didn’t have international service on their phones. Duke had been in the care of the daughter-in-law when he got loose. Unfortunately, her search efforts were limited and Duke ended up being unclaimed at animal control.

When Duke’s guardians returned from their trip they were devastated. Their baby was missing and they called animal control right away. The wonderful ACO, Dana, took the time to talk to the family and through several conversations, proof of vet records, and a home visit it was determined that this family was very sincere and had been taking wonderful care of their baby before this unfortunate accident.

Today we were able to reunite the family and it was truly heartwarming. They have had Duke since he was a puppy and he had been their baby ever since. His mom sews him clothes and he sleeps in bed with them. The icing on the cake was when they showed us the baby seat they have for him in their car. They opened the driver side door and told him to get in his seat. He jumped in, jumped in the back and hopped right in the baby seat and laid down. My heart melted.

This is a story we hear all too frequently. People go away and leave their pets in the care of someone else and end up getting loose. Please do your research about who will be caring for your pet, make sure you give them instructions on how to keep your pup safe, and contact info for who to call in the event of any emergencies.

Today we were able to reunite a dog with a family that missed him and loved him and in return, we had space to rescue a different dog who was at risk for euthanasia at a kill shelter whose owner passed away and doesn’t have a family.

Note from Lost Dogs Illinois: As Missing Pet Partnership has stated: More education is needed for owners, and for shelters advising owners on matters of lost pets. Improving TECHNIQUE and TIMING are two keys to improving RTO stats!

We want to thank Colleen from Perfect Pooches Adoption Agency and Dana Deutsch, North Chicago Animal Control Officer, for going the extra mile to get Duke back home to his rightful owners and allowing us to share Duke’s story.

What To Do If You Find A “Stray” Dog

If you find a lost dog, please follow these steps to find his/her family:

– Check for a license or ID tag. – No tags? Ask around your neighborhood in case the dog lives nearby.
– Take the dog to the nearest veterinarian or shelter to have the dog scanned for a microchip & look for a tattoo. – Call your local police (non-emergency line) to report the dog found.
– Call your local animal control agency (ACO), complete a found dog report or bring the dog to them if you are unable to keep the dog while searching for the dog’s owner.
– Post found dog flyers around the neighborhood and animal service businesses even if you take the dog to the animal control or stray hold facility with the facility’s phone number. Create a sign like a yard sale sign and post in your yard or the nearest intersection.
– Post on your local Craig’s List (under both the Lost and Found and Pet sections), place a newspaper ad, other lost and found internet sites.

Please check Pet FBI or Lost Dogs Illinois to see if this dog matches with any of the missing dogs listed.

Tips for Returning a Found Dog to the Lawful Owner:

When someone calls in response to an ad and/or flyer, ask the caller’s name and telephone number and tell him/her, you’ll call back right away.

Do not offer a description of the dog, let the person inquiring describe the dog including unique identifying characteristics. (i.e. scars, tattoo, behaviors, color patterns, etc.)

Ask for Proof of Ownership ( one of the following):

· Vet records (call their vet to confirm)
· Rabies certificate or license
· Adoption papers, registration papers, transfer of ownership or bill of sale
· Photos (dated and w/family members)

Observe the meeting of the dog and person; does the dog show familiarity with person. Does the dog show familiarity with the person? Be aware that a dog who has been missing a long time or who were in survival mode may not immediately show familiarity or affection so do not be alarmed if this happens. It may take time for a long-lost dog to recognize their owners or feel comfortable with them.

Meeting to return the dog; be sure to let a friend or family know where you are meeting or ask one of them to go along. Meet at your local police parking lot, your vet office or any public place in the daylight.

PLEASE NOTE: It is illegal to put a flyer in a US mailbox or attach or hang a flyer on a US mailbox. You could be charged First Class postage for every flyer, postage due. Please go door to door with your flyer.

Chicago Pets Benefiting from New ID Tag Engraver at Chicago Animal Care and Control

Misty getting her new tag. Her family being reunited with Misty

Chicago Animal Care and Control took one giant leap for petkind recently by adding a high-tech ID tag-engraving machine to its shelter facilities.

CACC Administrative Services Officer Susan Cappello said the non-profit group, Friends of Chicago Animal Care and Control, donated a VIP Pet ID tag machine to the shelter in January 2016.

“The Pet ID Tag machine will be used to provide free pet ID tags to all customers who adopt a new pet, find their lost pet, and attend our monthly low-cost pet vaccine clinic,” Cappello told Lost Dogs Illinois via email. “In less than one week of use, CACC made over 10 tags already to new or existing pet owners.”

Cappello added that CACC’s next low-cost vaccine clinic will be held Feb. 17 and that “[W]e plan to provide a pet ID tag to every customer” that day.

Providing pets with ID tags can help shelters reduce overcrowding. A 2010 study conducted by The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals suggested that pet ID tags containing owner contact information make it easier for people to help get that animal home should it become lost. That allows a shelter to direct its resources to supporting true homeless pets.

ID tag and collar

“Having a microchip is a great safety measure for emergencies or if the pet loses a tag or collar,” Dr. Emily Weiss, vice president of shelter research and development for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told New York Times blogger Tara Parker-Pope in 2011. “But an ID tag is the simplest, easiest way to assure your pet is going to get home.”

Chicago Animal Care and Control strongly recommends that all pet owners microchip and obtain a collar and tag for their pets, Cappello said.

“Cats that get lost are nine times more likely to be reunited with their owner if they arrive at a shelter with a collar and tag or microchip,” Cappello emphasized. “Dogs are five times more likely to be returned home to their owner if they have a collar and tag or microchip.

“If your pet gets lost and is found by our shelter, we will research the tag and microchip information and contact you as soon as possible,” Cappello said. “Collars with identification are your pets’ fastest ticket back to you should they become lost.”

Engraving an ID tag at Joliet Township Animal Control

CACC joins Joliet Township Animal Control as two major Northern Illinois municipal animal control programs now offering ID tags as part of the adoption/retrieval package. JTAC, which serves Joliet, Joliet Township, Crest Hill and Rockdale, used part of a $20,000 grant awarded it by The Petco Foundation, in partnership with Natural Balance Pet Foods, to purchase its machine in March 2015.

Thank you Lydia Rypcinski for writing this article!

IT ALWAYS TAKES A VILLAGE!!

This amazing reunion story is being shared for a couple of reasons:

There is a need for a centralized lost and found dog database in the US. Lost Dogs Illinois is already partnered with this FREE service called Helping Lost Pets (HeLP). It can pull found dogs from any organization’s shelter management software system. We need the major shelter management software suppliers to connect with HeLP so that all Found Pet Data is visible on one website. Vet Clinics, Police Departments, stray holding facilities shelters, etc. can all use HeLP for FREE. HeLP is already connected with rescuegroups.org and sheltermanager.com. It is simple! Just think how many more pets could be reunited!
There needs to be a staff person or a group of volunteers who are trained to research dead end microchips and ID tags. Volunteers could do this right from their own home!

Riley at home.

The story about Riley is no exception! It is an amazing story with many facets to it. This shy cocker spaniel got lost from his Mom while visiting friends in Palatine. Somehow he was brought into CACC in Chicago! Riley’s Mom contacted all the local PD’s and shelters from near where he got lost but she never thought to go as far as CACC in her search!!! Riley was lucky enough to have a microchip, however when he and his Mom moved from Pennsylvania she didn’t understand how it worked and she did not update her contact info which was unlucky for Riley. Consequently, CACC, animal control sent a letter to the only address on file, which was no longer valid, an old address in Pennsylvania. Riley was on a 7 day ‘letter hold’ at CACC awaiting a response from his Mom who did not receive the letter that was sent to the wrong address. Meanwhile, a fellow rescuer, Jacyln, noted this handsome dog who clearly had a home and took some photos and shared them with the rescue community. She also noted he looked like another lost dog out of Ohio belonging to, Laura . While she and I worked on that angle we hit a brick wall when the microchips did not match. The letter hold was nearing its end. Riley would be city property on 1/16/16, only available to rescues or perhaps the euthanasia room Another rescuer, Juliette was desperately seeking refuge for Riley and also convinced he was missing his family. Inspired by Juliette, I decided to do a little research on the chip and within an hour I had found Riley’s Mom. The wonders of Google and Facebook messaging had Riley’s Mom, Diane, in contact me within minutes. This was her dog, no doubt! Diane would be at CACC at noon armed with her paperwork and proof this was her Riley. However, another rescue trumped my hold request and they were going to pull him and place him in their rescue! Thankfully, both Juliette and I frantically contacted CACC via emails/phone calls and told them the story. CACC contacted the rescue, Furever Rescue, who graciously backed away and let the owner take her dog home. ( In addition to this, Furever has kindly offered to send a groomer to RIley’s home to care of those mats!)

Diane was the first person in the door at CACC today ready to take her guy home! Riley has kennel cough and was stinky and matted from his ordeal but he has gotten a bath settled in and is done with any more adventures to Chicago says his Mom, Diane. Riley proves that lost dogs can find their way home in spite of the hurdles. Riley’s story tells us lost dogs can be anywhere not just near the place they got lost from and we must look everywhere. Riley reminds me that every rescue must fully explain the importance of the microchip to their adopters as well as to keep them up date and to call them when their dog goes missing Riley’s story is also about the power of networking and sharing lost dogs on Facebook and all of us working together. You never know who will see your post that end of saving a life. Please don’t just “like” a post, please “share” it ! To everyone whose life he touched we are all the richer for it! Riley’s story involved a village to get him back home. Thanks to everyone who brought him home!!!.

Thank you, Maria Therese!

Follow-up on LDI’s meeting w/the Mayor’s staff and Cook County President’s staff

Update on December 18th Meeting with Rosa Escareno, Deputy Chief Operating Officer, City of Chicago, Office of the Mayor.

LDI’s Director, Susan Taney and Kathy Pobloskie, LDI advisor, along with five members from Advocates for Chicagoland Animals and Chicago Rescue Round table, were asked to meet with Rosa to discuss what we felt was needed to hire an Executive Director for Chicago Animal Care and Control. Rosa said the Mayor had received our petition, calls and letters from Chicago residents for a nationwide search for the new ED. An ad has been posted on three national websites with applications closing January 11, 2016. We were very pleased with the meeting. We want to thank everyone who took the time to sign the Advocates for Chicagoland Animals petition or called their aldermen and the Mayor. They heard us.

The second meeting that day was with Martha Martenez, Cook County’s Director of Administration, who oversees the department of Cook County Animal and Rabies Control. We discussed the following:

Encouraged Cook County Animal and Rabies Control to use reasonable priced microchips which includes registration. Profits from these sales could provide low cost or free microchip clinics for under served areas.

Search for grants to help fund these types of clinics. Gave them names of organizations that may have available grants.

Encouraged the County to use Helping Lost Pets, a free national map based database, since there are multiple stray holding facilities in Cook County and Chicago

Gave them our municipality listing for Cook County animal holding facilities.

Asked that they add Lost Dogs Illinois to their website as a resource.

Asked for the copy of the ordinance saying that rabies tag monies have to be spent towards rabies education, etc.

Asked what the plans are for the surplus of money for CCAC. As of 2015 that was approximately $8 million.

We were told that CCAC are working with the Cook County Sheriff’s department.

We, at LDI, hope to continue a working relationship with Cook County and CACC.

Bella’s Meet and Greet at Bentley’s Corner Barkery in Long Grove

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Bella’s meet & greet at Bentley’s Corner Barkery in Long Grove

Bella’s owners were overwhelmed by the whole experience of her being lost and even more by the support of LDI, Bella’s rescue organization, friends and mostly complete strangers that helped them bring their girl home. They wanted to try and pay-it-forward. They became passionate about getting the word out to other dog owners to help them benefit from mistakes that they had made, as well as benefiting from things they had learned that successfully brought their girl home safe and sound.

Once Bella was back home and settled in, they set up a meet & greet at Bentley’s Corner Barkery in Long Grove and invited everyone who supported them during their journey. They asked the rescue they adopted Bella from, Foster2Home, to be their guest and bring some of their adoptable dogs.

Lost Dogs Illinois was invited to attend and pass out information on the proper way to recover a scared dog. LDI did scans to check microchips of any dogs in attendance. It is important to periodically check to see if the microchip is still working and to see if the chip has begun to migrate and make sure it can still easily be found. Also that the chip is registered to you.

LDI Volunteers, Jackie & Maggie, providing free microchip scans.

A good time was had by all and more importantly, more of the community was reached and made aware of the resources available to them if they ever found or lost their dog.