Category Archives: Rescues and Shelters

Articles and tips for shelters/rescues to help capture a lost foster or adopted dog.

Successfully Negotiating the Return of Your Lost Dog from a Rescue

Your missing dog has turned up at a rescue and is now available for adoption. How does this happen?

A microchipped dog who is scanned may be backtracked to a rescue or may have a rescue as a secondary contact. If you were unable to be reached, the microchip company may have called the rescue who reclaimed the dog from the finder or shelter.
In an attempt to prevent dogs from being put down in overcrowded shelters a rescue may “pull” dogs to adopt them into new homes. Some animal control facilities even allow rescues to pull dogs before the official stray hold has ended on medical grounds.
A Good Samaritan who picks up a lost dog may take the dog to a rescue because they either don’t know where the correct stray holding facility for the area is or they are fearful that the dog will be put down at a publicly funded shelter.

To prevent problems: If your dog is microchipped, immediately contact the microchip company to “red flag” your dog as missing and make sure all of your contact information is up to date. This should prevent a rescue or new adopter from being able to transfer the microchip records without you being notified. If your dog has been lost for a long time, remember to stay in touch with the microchip company to remind them that your dog is still missing.

If you find your dog at a local rescue here are some tips to help successfully reclaim your dog.

BE POLITE! Keep your tone respectful and appreciative. Get your facts straight and don’t make accusations or assumptions. Rescues are often volunteer-run and usually have a mission to protect animals and save lives. Abusive or disrespectful language will not endear you to them. They may even misconstrue your bad temper as proof that you are not a fit pet parent. Remember, your conversations may be recorded and your text messages will be retained. Keep a cool head and stay professional.
BE ORGANIZED! Most rescues want the best outcome for an animal. They may mistakenly think your dog was abandoned and/or abused. Provide photos, microchip records, veterinary records and proof of licensing to show that your dog is a loved and well cared for family member.
BE PREPARED! Rescues may have invested money into your dog for grooming and veterinary care. Be prepared to offer to reimburse them for some of their costs. Be polite as you negotiate these details with them. Be prepared to set up a payment plan if necessary.
BE DISCREET! These situations often take a bad turn when an owner, or the friends or family of an owner, blast the rescue on social media. This can be damaging for a rescue’s reputation and they may resort to digging in their heels and defending their decision to keep your pet from you. Remember, bad behavior from you or your supporters never looks good. Private negotiations will yield the best results.
BE PERSISTENT! You may need to take your case to civil court. If you have followed our tips above you will look much more credible in the eyes of the judge and you will have a greater chance of success. Contact an attorney if you need assistance.

It is our hope that your dog is home soon! Returning dogs to their family means that shelters and rescues can focus their resources and energy on helping truly homeless dogs. Stay calm, cool and professional for the best chance of a happy reunion.

Are we, in animal welfare, failing when it comes to transporting animals?

This was Sadie, a dog who was being transported from one state to another. She managed to escape from the transport during a break at a truck stop.

Last Friday one of our LDI volunteers was devastated by witnessing a lost dog hit by a car and dying in her husband’s arms.

The local animal rescue, IVAR, stepped up to the plate and immediately took action to bring Sadie back safely.

They used every avenue available to achieve this goal.

Sadly, after a five day effort to capture her, she was hit by a car and lost her life.

We cannot bring Sadie back but her story may help others.

Rest in peace beautiful girl. You were loved.

When we lose one of these transport dogs it is devastating to all parties involved. The rescues & shelters, the search teams, the transporters, the foster waiting for their arrival and even the person who hit the dog – all have to deal with the loss.

Too many dogs are being lost during transports. We need to do better.

Here are the some questions we would like to ask transport groups, shelter and/or rescues to consider before transporting dogs:

Does the dog have proper equipment to keep him safe?

Is the dog microchipped and has a visible id tag on the collar with a current phone number?

Does the dog really need to be exercised?

Is every effort being made to minimize the loss when transferring the dog from one car to another?

Are dogs being transported in crates with no free movement in the car?

Are the transport team members or volunteers educated on the proper and safe handling of the dog?

Are they given all information available on the dog – ie: Is the dog an escape artist, afraid of certain sounds or noise, afraid of people or other dogs?

Maybe with more effort placed on education and transport safety we can reduce the losses suffered and get more of these wonderful dogs to the new life they deserve.

Placing Paws Rescue commitment to bring Ebony home!

Ebony is a rescue dog with Placing Paws Rescue, where I am a volunteer. She was adopted out and escaped from her new owners house less than a week after being adopted. I live close by, and as soon as she went missing me and other Placing Paws volunteers were out. We put up flyers like crazy, fielded sightings, walked for miles talking to people, feeding stations were set up with cameras.

Eventually a pattern emerged and we were able to figure out what to do and where. Placing Paws spared no expense in finding her, and I was NEVER going to give up on her until she was found. It was exhausting, hard work, but to me, and Placing Paws, worth every second. When she was caught ( in a live trap) she was loaded up and went straight to the vet to be checked out. She has a nasty gash in her shoulder which had already started healing and a fever, but she will be fine 🙂

We are lucky because we are a pretty tight, dedicated rescue group who truly love our animals. A true team effort. Thank you for all you do to help get these fur babies home !!! 🙂

Thank you, Julie C, for sharing Ebony’s story.

Illinois Microchip Hunters

Zoey,
Senior Boxer

Lost Dogs Illinois has been helping Chicago Animal Care & Control (CACC) with dead end microchips, microchips that no long have current contact information. CACC staff do the best they can, but It is sometimes impossible to find an owner using the available information and given time constraints. However, Lost Dogs Illinois has volunteers who can dedicate hours to tracing disconnected phone numbers and researching online to find relatives of the owner. Sometimes this all comes together in a way that brings tears to your eyes.

A sweet old senior Boxer recently ended up at CACC. The microchip was not registered, but information showed the dog had been adopted out by Anti-Cruelty and they had owner information. It turned out the two owners had split and the girlfriend kept the dog. We reached the boyfriend. He discussed it with his ex and they decided their dog would be better off with him. Needless to say that senior Boxer is now safe at home. The Boxer did not need a home, the Boxer needed to go home! If you would like to learn sleuthing skills to get lost dogs home or if you know a shelter who would like this free service, contact this page.

BTW – the boxer’s name is Zoey!

Just a reminder….. Rescues and Animal Shelters

On January 1,2016, a new Illinois law was passed to require what is necessary if a rescue, shelter or veterinary clinic holds a stray animal. We also confirmed this information with Dr. Mark Ernst, State Veterinarian.

The law is Animal Welfare Section (225 ILCS 605/3.6) of the Illinois State Statutes.

Sec. 3.6. Acceptance of stray dogs and cats.
(a) No animal shelter may accept a stray dog or cat unless the animal is reported by the shelter to the animal control or law enforcement of the county in which the animal is found by the next business day. An animal shelter may accept animals from: (1) the owner of the animal where the owner signs a relinquishment form which states he or she is the owner of the animal; (2) an animal shelter licensed under this Act; or (3) an out-of-state animal control facility, rescue group, or animal shelter that is duly licensed in their state or is a not-for-profit organization.

(b) When stray dogs and cats are accepted by an animal shelter, they must be scanned for the presence of a microchip and examined for other currently-acceptable methods of identification, including, but not limited to, identification tags, tattoos, and rabies license tags. The examination for identification shall be done within 24 hours after the intake of each dog or cat. The animal shelter shall notify the owner and transfer any dog with an identified owner to the animal control or law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction in which it was found or the local animal control agency for redemption.

Definition of animal shelter:

“Animal shelter” means a facility operated, owned, or maintained by a duly incorporated humane society, animal welfare society, or other non-profit organization for the purpose of providing for and promoting the welfare, protection, and humane treatment of animals. “Animal shelter” also means any veterinary hospital or clinic operated by a veterinarian or veterinarians licensed under the Veterinary Medicine and Surgery Practice Act of 2004 which operates for the above mentioned purpose in addition to its customary purposes.

While we understand the reasoning for this law, it still creates a maze of holding facilities for an owner to find his/her lost dog. For example: If I lost my dog in Chicago. I would first check City of Chicago Animal Care and Control to see if my dog has been taken there but then I find out my dog could have been taken Animal Welfare League (there are two of them), Animal Care League, Paws Chicago, even some rescues,vet clinics and police dept. hold dogs.

Our solution is to use Pet FBI, a centralized database that Lost Dogs Illinois partners with. www.petfbi.org We recommend having a common login account that all of your staff share, allowing any of your staff to access private contact information for pet owners.

When Every Thing Goes Right – Capture of Leia

When a good friend and someone I have learned much from, Katie C, reached out to me to help with another loose rescue pup name Leia. I said yes. We followed our usual routine and started a group message with volunteers and the rescue. The rescue was totally engaged in doing whatever was needed and as was the foster family. This in itself helps the whole process in general. Sometimes we use the word “textbook” loosely because when helping with a lost dog anything and everything can happen. But , I do know this. There are some steps that have proven to make the journey easier. Leia went loose on a Saturday and was safely trapped by Tuesday morning

Steps taken:

Flyer. Flyer. Flyer. (This was done immediately for Leia)
Sightings start coming in
Leia being sighted in a backyard.
Speak with callers and get better details. Leia was seen several times in yards where flyers had been given to homeowners. Guess what? They called.
We established a good area for a feeding station and camera and trap. All the meanwhile still flyering.
Learned and saw for our own eyes Leia in the area and actually engaging the zip tied trap baited with irrestable food. We knew she was comfortable and….
Set and watched the trap.
Safely trapped Leia

Leia checking out the trap!

Gotcha Leia

To say this went like clockwork is true. Flyers generated sightings. Sightings told us areas where she was. Homeowners were willing to allow us to use the tools we needed. Finally, patience and observation helped us capture Leia safely.

Thank you, Rosanne, for sharing Leia’s story.

Tomahawk Traps Promotion

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.

Fireworks and Reuniting Lost Dogs with Their Families

Last year we were honored to present a free webinar for ASPCA Pro that included a lot of helpful information for shelters and owners for dogs that go missing after the fireworks on the 4th of July. Please feel free to share this link.
“In preparation for July 4, experts from Lost Dogs Illinois and Lost Dogs of Wisconsin will give you practical advice to offer support, resources, and tips to worried families searching for their lost dogs. Teaching people how to find their lost pets and avoid common mistakes can avoid heartbreak for many people and animals.
This free, 60-minute webinar will benefit staff and volunteers from any animal welfare agency.”

Click this link to view the webinar slides and access the webinar recording: http://www.aspcapro.org/webinar/2014-06-18/fireworks-rto

Keeping Our Fans Informed!

Since the Chicago City Council and Mayor approved the 3 day stray hold, the Director of Lost Dogs Illinois has made a commitment to try to attend the City of Chicago Animal Care and Control (CACC) Commissioners Meeting. The meetings are held every two months at CACC starting at 8:30. After the meeting is over, the public is allowed to read a statement or ask questions.

On March 19, our Director read this statement to the Commissioners.

Our Director attended the next scheduled meeting. This is the statement she read: “Since Animal Welfare League and other facilities have been approved to hold Chicago stray animals, aren’t their Return To Owner statistics posted publicly like CACCs.

What are the fees and fines that each facility charges and are they posted publicly like CACC does?
What is the cross communication among these facilities in order to help owners find their lost pets?
Since all these facilities have been approved to hold stray animals for CACC, why are they not required to post photos on the internet or Facebook?”

CACC is supported by Chicago taxpayers. As taxpayers, you have a voice and should not settle for anything less than excellence from CACC. The next meeting is Thursday, July 16^th at CACC.

For more information:

Commissioners Meeting Schedule