A Flyer is a Flyer is a Flyer….

We can’t stress this enough: ANY kind of flyers work AND never assume someone is transferring ownership on the microchip when you adopt!  

“Haha, he drew a stick dog, albeit the dog was the right color but still it was a stick dog.”  

Joanne J. was helping hang flyers for a lost dog, and saw a hand drawn “lost dog” flyer for another dog. She decided to post it to the neighborhood page she is on; Lost & Found Cats & Dogs on the South/Southwest Side of Chicago, thank goodness!!!

I saw the post, and commented that I was going to reach out to the family, and help get their dog registered and posted with Lost Dogs Illinois. Turns out the phone number on the flyer was for the grandmother of the 7 year old boy that drew the lost dog flyer. She told me it is her daughter’s dog, and that her daughter is at work but that she would get “King” registered right after work. She also described King to me, told me he had been missing since Tuesday, 2/26, and that he was adopted from animal welfare a few months ago (turns out he was adopted from Chicago Animal Care and Control).  

I posted this information to Joanne on the neighborhood page. Sue R. had commented there about a dog that was found that matched the drawing of the dog, and Vazquez P. commented with a match to a found dog at AWL! The description and date matched! This dog was named Tiger, so I messaged the grandmother, and she said, “yes, that was his name when he was adopted.” She said the dog sure looked like King!  

The daughter, Christina, called me yesterday. She told me she assumed someone had taken King in because she knew he had a microchip so if he turned up at the police station or animal control, they would have called her. I spoke with AWL early Monday morning, and they told me they had contacted the owner registered on Tiger’s microchip by leaving a voicemail, but had not heard back. Christina gave me King’s microchip number and I was able to confirm that two companies still only had the previous owner information. Christina was planning to go to AWL after work. 

Christina brought all her CACC adoption information with her to AWL. It included the paperwork that had the microchip number on it. “Tiger” was not listed with AWL on petharbor anymore as of Monday morning so she was concerned. She insisted that this was her dog, and after paying $160 to reclaim him, he is now home! I gave Christina the information she needs to update King’s owner information to her, so this doesn’t happen again.  

Great job on making that flyer Joell! We are proud of you!!! You got your dog back home to you!  

Thank you to Joanne J., Sue R, and Vazquez P. from King’s family: “Seriously! I wouldn’t believe it if it hadn’t happened to me. I can’t thank you enough. You guys do amazing work, you found a dog from a stick figure picture! “Thank you so much for your help! I never would have found him!!!

~Jeanette
Lost Dogs Illinois

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.

Tips for Dogs Lost in a Rural Area

Dogs lost in rural areas can pose extra challenges because of the sparse population.  It is not unusual for sightings to be few and far between or for there to be a long physical distance between sightings. It can also be difficult to get sightings when crops are tall or on roads where the majority of people are just passing through and driving fast.

Why do lost dogs like rural areas? 

Scared lost dogs will often gravitate to a farm where it is quiet and there is a reliable food source like outdoor cat food or spilled grain. Farms provide a multitude of hiding places. Lost dogs will hide in sheds, old barns or under old farm machinery and creep out at dusk and dawn to eat. If the dog isn’t bothering livestock, farmers may let the dogs hang around indefinitely. But they may not proactively look for an owner because they assume that the dog was “dumped” off at their farm.

Therefore it is VERY important to flyer every farm in at least a 20 mile radius of where your dog went missing. Talk to the land owners and put a flyer in their hands. Ask them if they have seen your dog hanging around or passing through. Expand the radius to 30 miles or more if you don’t get a sighting. Use Google Maps and Satellite Photos to look for roads that you may have missed. Make it EASY for people to contact you by making sure that they have a copy of your flyer in their truck or on their fridge. 

Also: 

  1. Deliver several copies of your flyer to any equine or farm animal veternarians  in the area.  Ask them to pass them out to their employees and post one in the lobby for clients coming through the front door.
  2. Deliver several copies of your flyer to every equine facility in the area. Ask that they be passed out to boarders, trainers, farriers (blacksmiths), etc. who may routinely travel the route to and from the facility.
  3. Give copies of your flyer to all local delivery people including UPS, Fed Ex, United State Postal Service, garbage pick up services, feed delivery, propane and diesel fuel delivery, septic services, etc.  These people travel the back roads and need to know who to call if they see your dog. Don’t expect them to proactively report a sighting without a flyer in their hand. They may not have time to look through listings or post to social media.
  4. Deliver flyers to all farm equipment dealers, farm supply stores and feed stores in the area. Ask to post one at the counter and on any bulletin boards.
  5. Post a flyer at any local gathering places such as coffee shops, diners and taverns.
  6. Deliver flyers to the school bus drivers in the area.
  7. Ask farmers and hunters to check their game cameras for photos of your dog. Leave them a flyer so that they know who to call if they get a photo a week or a month from now!
  8. Use intersection signs at crossroads.  Remember to get permission first!
  9. Ask landowners for permission to search old barns, sheds and silos.
  10. Pay close attention to places where you see outdoor cats.  There is probably a food source that your lost dog may also be visiting. Check for tracks or ask permission to set up a trail camera to monitor.
  11. Run an ad in the local newspaper or shopper.

Never Give Up! Lost dogs are safely recovered weeks, months and even years after they have gone missing. Your dog may be hanging around a farm and is relying on YOU to bring him safely home.

People were more concerned about rehoming this “found” dog rather than trying to find his owner.

Thank you Ev for sharing King’s story in your own words….

If you don’t mind I want to share a story with you. It’s not a Illinois dog but a Mississippi dog. Not sure if you saw the post I originally shared on my page. A kind soul was traveling and found a shepherd mix in Bilxo MS, who a stranger in the parking lot said the dog was roaming for almost a month, so the finder brings him to a shelter in Altanta Ga as it was late at night when he found the dog and had to get to GA.  That shelter scanned and  found a chip but no owner registered so sent him on his way as they couldn’t take the dog.

He brings the dog to Chicago but can’t keep him so puts out a post to find him a new home.  He had over 150 messages to take the dog, so I made it my mission to try and find this dog’s family. I called the shelter King was adopted from in May 2011 Jackson County Animal Shelter in Gaultier MS (the info I found out from the chip). Mind you his chip now had an alert on it as being found. After conversation the shelter & I began with messaging so I could share the video and the info from the chip. They called me and said what would you like us to do. I said I don’t expect you to give me the owner information as I know you can’t but please contact the owner and the finder, Fredo.  I gave them his number.

Motions were set and this boy is going home to his true family. In the meantime I found a lost post for him, he was only missing less then a day when Fredo found him (again bad info from “strangers” can be so misleading to finders, who now think a dog has been roaming for a month!).   Turns out the son who made the lost post, had made a promise to his dad that he would love on and take good care of King, as his dad was dying and just recently passed. Poor King was probably looking for his dad, who I found out always took him in the car to this restaurant where he was found at to pick up food. Fredo in the meantime gave him to a woman, thankfully a good woman who knows he’s not hers to keep. I shiver to think had Fredo not friended me and accepted my messages poor King would of been lost from his family forever. ! Here’s the lost ad I found on King in the meantime while I was in the process with the shelter:


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.

Apology from Lost Dogs Illinois Director – Chicago Animal Care and Control Return to Owner Statistics

I had been under the understanding that Chicago Animal Care and Control Return to Owner actually meant “stray” return to owner.  Little did not I know it included other categories which CACC  considered return to owner.

This is my statement to the Commission members of Chicago Animal Care and Control on July 19th.

My name is Susan Taney, Director of Lost Dogs Illinois.  Lost Dogs Illinois is a not for profit organization that helps citizens find their lost dogs and Good Samaritans find lost dog’s owners but we also work with Animal Controls to increase their Return to Owner rate and decrease their stray intake.. We have typically defined Return to Owner as the percentage of stray or lost dogs who are brought in to CACC which are reunited with their owners.

I would first like to address the return to owner statistics. I’ll refer to it as RTO from here on in.  This year on CACC’s website I noticed that in the month of March the RTO statistics were split into categories:  strays that were reunited with their owner and other dogs that were returned to their owner for other reasons.  (to give you examples: dogs surrendered and the owner changed their mind or evictions or owner went to hospital so these were “return to owner” ). In all the discussions we had with CACC we assumed we were on the save wavelength and only referring to the strays that were reunited with their owners.  Also, I noticed that there was a whole new description about the live release rate and other definitions in regards to statistics.  With that in mind, the RTO statistics that I have reported to both CACC and the public have been wrong and are not as positive as I thought they were.  Never was there any indication with discussions with any of the  directors and staff that RTO included not only strays but the other categories I mentioned earlier, as well.

So I am going to now tell you the actual number of stray dogs reunited with their owners for three months in 2017 compared with what I wrote about on our website and Facebook page in which I gave praise to CACC for their stellar improvement.

June, 2017              45%               actual            33%

July, 2017                42%              actual            31%

August 2017          53%               actual            33%

I am very disappointed and disheartened about this discovery in regards  to the statistics.

Stray intake has been consistently been at 60%. Progressive animal controls are taking a hard look at stray intake on how to decrease it.  At the last commission meeting I attended, I made suggestions.

I don’t know who the new Director will be but I am truly hoping the new Director will try to fix the broken animal control system in Chicago with being a leader in the field which will expand to Cook County.Obviously the Live Release Rate has increased but the actual animal control system needs to be addressed, supported by the mayor and public and brought into the 21stcentury.

Thank you for your time.

Below listed are the actual statistic posted on the CACC’s website.

Below are the actual statistics that I FOIA’d.  What is FOIA? The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a United States federal law that grants the public access to information possessed by government agencies. Upon written request, U.S. government agencies are required to release information unless it falls under one of nine exemptions listed in the Act.  As a citizen you have the right to request information possessed by government agencies.

 

 

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!

Distributing Flyers is the Number One Way Lost Dogs are Found

When a dog goes missing, the first reaction of most people is to rush out and search for the dog, calling his/her name and combing the area.  Even though it may seem counterintuitive, you should not send your friends and family members on a wild goose chase, or in this case a wild dog chase, through the streets.  Looking for a lost dog by wandering or driving through the streets and neighborhoods is like looking for a needle in a haystack.  And, a dog who is approached by someone he/she doesn’t know well may get scared and run even farther from home, or worse yet, into traffic.

Instead, ask your family and friends to help you distribute flyers.  Create your free flyer from our software partner, Pet FBI, print out a stack of them and ask your helpers to get busy spreading the word that your dog is missing.  Start nearest to the location to where your dog was last seen and expand the radius outward. The photo on your flyer should be a clear, full body shot of your dog.  You have a good photo of your dog stored on your phone don’t you?  If not, do that TODAY, in case your dog goes missing tomorrow.   See Create Your Own Flyers for information on printing different types/sizes of flyers.

In our experience, the number one way that lost dogs are found is by generating sightings through the distribution of flyers.  More often than not, a dog is reunited with their family because someone has reviewed a flyer sees the lost pet, and calls the dog’s owners.

Don’t Chase or Search! Instead use flyers to generate that ONE sighting you need to help bring your dog home.

April 23rd is the Fifth Annual National Lost Dog Awareness Day

 

On April 23, 2014, Lost Dogs of America created and launched the first National Lost Dog Awareness Day (NLDAD), a canine-focused day aimed to bring attention to all dogs that are lost each year, while also celebrating the thousands of lost dogs successfully reunited with their families.

Lost Dogs Of America (which Lost Dogs Illinois is a partner) is an all-volunteer organization with the exclusive purpose of providing a free service to help reunite families with their lost dogs.

The tenacious efforts of the combined states’ volunteers efforts, along with over 500,000 fans have helped reunite over 100,000 dogs with their families since 2011.   Getting lost dogs back home reduces stress on owners’, staff at shelters/animal control facilities, other dogs in the facilities, and ultimately saves taxpayers’ money. It also opens up kennel space for truly homeless dogs.

“When a dog goes missing, many families give up looking for their lost pet. National Lost Dog Awareness Day was created to give hope to the families still looking for their dogs and remind the public that “not all stray dogs are homeless dogs”.

Click below to open and print press release
LDOA Press Release 2018