A letter to those missing their pets….

I totally understand see your struggle, this is like missing your child, a part of your family… not knowing if their scared, sick, hot, cold, injured, hungry, thirsty, abused… the horrors and worries going thru your head.

People try to water it down, say it’s not important, not a priority, it’s just a pet, it’s cute, I’m sure someone else is loving it! Why don’t you get another one?

Finders crudely reply,
I don’t need to show you a pic… I know it’s not yours
If it has fleas or is skinny now, it shouldn’t go back to such a bad mom
How did you lose your pet anyways?
I gave it too a good home (as they shrug their shoulders)

A host of thousands of social media and Craigslist pages to check… with barely any finders with a half way close match at least showing respect for your worries in your search. Answering your messages with more than a one word response. You carry on watching finders, sellers, adopters, flippers, breeders…. anything! Anywhere!

People posting found pitiful mangy possibilities playing police, assuming they know the whole story, playing judge as to why no one deserves their dog back.

At the end of the day, you print more fliers, and carefully decide where to try next, and say a prayer tomorrow is better….kinder.

For those missing pets… God Bless You! My thoughts and prayers to you. Your strong! Don’t give up! Keep fighting! 

Thank you Lisa T for sharing.

Lisa’s daughter’s yorkie went missing July 29th.  Phoebe has yet been found.

Link to her posting:  Phoebe

 

 

Raise the Woof with Sarah Lauch interviewing Susan Taney, LDI’s Director

“The hardest thing is the dogs that people do not know what happened to them. I know they are out there, but they just haven’t found them. ”

The work that Lost Dogs Illinois Co-Founder and Director Susan Taney does is so important. There is no worse feeling than losing your dog. We go into great detail about her experiences and what you can do if you have lost or found an animal.

Direct Link: http://traffic.libsyn.com/raisethewoof/susan.mp3

Stitcher:http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=128947&refid=stpr

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/…/podc…/raise-the-woof/id1197923184

Google Play:https://playmusic.app.goo.gl/…?

Thank you Sarah Lauch for interviewing LDI’s Director, Susan Taney

That Moment You Are Never Prepared For

It was a typical summer day. All seemed normal in the family’s world – except their boy, Freddy,  wasn’t with them. The family was on a once-in-a-lifetime vacation, and Freddy was staying at a reliable boarding facility. It was one the family felt comfortable leaving their best friend at – 16 years in business, and never a flaw or escape.

Until now.

The call a pet parent never wants to get – the one that shatters your world and turns it upside down – came that afternoon. Freddy had escaped from the facility and was on the run. No collar and no tags (as a safety precaution and to prevent injuries, boarding facilities do not leave collars/tags on), but one redeeming feature: Freddy was microchipped and his contact information was up-to-date.

Over 4,100 miles away with fear and panic setting in, Freddy’s family contacted a friend whose sister lives and breathes Lost Dogs Illinois. The friend called her sister and set into motion events that gave the family a glimmer of hope.

Lost Dogs Illinois has a “5 Things to Do When You Lose a Dog” action plan that the friend and sister deployed immediately. Step 4 of the plan tells pet owners to ask people not to call out to or chase a dog they see if they think it is lost. Instead, ask them to sit or lie down, with no eye contact, and toss out a few pieces of tasty treat to lure the dog to them.

Sure enough, a call came in with a sighting of Freddy. A little food, a little water, and scent items like clothing were taken to the sighting location immediately to lure Freddy in. Now it became a waiting game; someone had to sit a distance away from the location, wait, make no sudden movements and, above all, be patient.

The patience paid off hours later, when one of the boarding facility’s employees spotted Freddy near the site. The mission then shifted from finding Freddy to encouraging him to come to the employee. Freddy’s family’s friend then came up with a genius masterstroke – why not let Freddy’s mom call out to him via Facetime?

It worked! Freddy heard his owner’s familiar voice calling softly to him from 4,100 miles away over the phone, and Freddy followed the voice right into the employee’s arms. Freddy was SAFE!

As a longtime follower of Lost Dogs Illinois, I have learned you can never tell people enough about what this organization does to help recover lost dogs. Spreading the word about Lost Dogs Illinois is the MOST important message you can convey to pet owners – even owners who have never lost a dog – because you just NEVER, EVER know when you or a friend will need LDI’s help and resources.

Freddy LOST 8/10/2017 SAFE 8/10/2017!!

Thank you Evelyn for sharing Freddy’s story!

City of Chicago Animal Care and Control (CACC) Return to Owner Rate for Dogs is Steadily Improving.

For many years the CACC’s Return to Owner (RTO) rate for dogs was DISMAL. Six years ago we met with the then senior management staff to discuss what CACC could do to get more dogs home. It should be noted that 60% of the intake of CACC is stray dogs. That means many of these dogs are “owned”. These owned dogs need to go home; not have a new home or be euthanized.

Lost Dogs Illinois believed that by implementing the ideas suggested below, CACC would increase their Return to Owner Rates, reduce euthanasia and relieve pressure on the rescues that are carrying the burden to save lives. Slowly CACC started implementing the following suggestions (which we have noted in red) and this year the RTO for dogs has been over 40% (June – 45% and July 42%). Just think how many more dogs could be reunited if they implemented more of our suggestions.

  • Implement a Marketing Campaign to bring awareness to the public that your facility is where their lost pet has been taken. (Simply by having volunteers post flyers (other languages) in neighbor stores, etc.) Or place ads on Craigslist, newspapers, etc.
  • Develop a Volunteer Pet Detective or Lost Pet Recovery Team to do some of the following tasks listed below.
  • Use a dedicated email address for lost and found pets. Develop a lost pet report form on the website to enter information about lost and found pets. Use this to match against pets that are being held at other facilities or are posted on LDI, Craigslist or other internet sites.
  • Tracing dead end microchip and ID tags (Lost Dogs Illinois has volunteers who trace dead end tags and will train other shelter employees/volunteers) HAVE OFFERED
  • Door Greeter to help people with lost pets, post flyers on the board and give out lost pet information.
  • Use Helping Lost Pets as a centralized database. IMPLEMENTED
  • Volunteers can help individual lost dog families with lost dog recovery tips
  • Make sure any adopted dog or claimed dog leaves with an ID tag on a new collar. (Apply for an ASPCA Grant to receive an ID engraving machine) Research shows putting the tag on the collar when the dog leaves a facility increases the likelihood of a reunion. Research shows that more than 80% of Good Samaritans who find dogs want to find their owners. If the tags are not being attached to the collar it is defeating the purpose. IMPLEMENTED
  • Use AVMA Best Practices for Scanning for Microchips. WE HOPE
  • Implement Field redemptions by having scanners and computers on the trucks. If the dog does not have to come into the shelter there is less stress on the dog, staff, volunteers, and other dogs in the facility. This reduces euthanasia and makes more room for truly homeless dogs.
  • Negotiate or reduce fees so they are not punitive. IMPLEMENTED
  • Install a big flat screen TV in lobby for people to view the “found animals” that are being held. Many people have phobias about entering the wards. INSTALLED KIOSK IN LOBBY
  • Expand the hours of tours for stray wards.
  • Expand website to include different languages or install translator. Provide tips on how to find lost pets on the website.
  • Register microchip to the owner at implant. IMPLEMENTED
  • Use found dog signs at the location where a dog is picked up by field officers STARTED BUT STOPPED
  • Free or low cost microchip clinics along with ID tagging – HAVE BEEN DOING THIS

“Lost your pet? We can help!”

A number of organizations and individuals are offering to help you find your lost pet these days, so what makes Lost Dogs Illinois different?

For one thing, Lost Dogs Illinois is no fly-by-night organization. Susan Taney, who has more than 25 years of experience in shelter management, pet adoption counseling and animal rescue work, founded Lost Dogs Illinois in 2010. Taney saw there was a real need to help Illinois residents in the recovery of their lost dogs; many people don’t know where or how to start looking for their pets because of the haphazard network of agencies and procedures that exists for that purpose. People may also lack the money to pay for “pet detectives” or other professional services.

As a result, Lost Dogs Illinois is designed to help pet owners find their pets by providing them with basic resources, instructions, suggestions and support – all for free. Lost Dogs Illinois is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization run entirely by dedicated volunteers whose only pay is the joy they experience when pets and owners are reunited.

What else makes Lost Dogs Illinois different from other pet-finding organizations?

Lost Dogs Illinois actively works at building relationships with local government-run and privately run animal welfare organizations to increase their Return-to-Owner (“RTO”) results.

Lost Dogs Illinois is volunteer-driven. Responses on our Facebook page (@LostDogsIllinois) are not automatic or “bot”-driven. Our volunteers do all our postings manually and try to answer each question, comment and email on a timely basis.

Jeanette, LDI volunteer, posting on LDI’s page

In addition to email, Lost Dogs Illinois volunteers will reach out to owners and finders via text message and phone calls, when possible, to remain current on the status of each post. Volunteers can offer tips and advice when asked, as well as encouragement and emotional support.

Lost Dogs Illinois creates online photo albums of lost-and-found pets for ongoing reference. In addition, helpful tips and blogs on how to get a lost dog home are available on both our Facebook page and our Website, www.lostdogsillinois.org.

Lost Dogs Illinois promotes a non-judgmental approach to helping owners find their lost pets. We do not permit “owner-shaming” and other non-productive comments on our Facebook page that deter from our primary mission.

Lost Dogs Illinois is a proactive, community-driven operation. We engage dog lovers and advocates across the state to help reunite lost dogs with their rightful owners. Lost Dogs Illinois is also a founding member of Lost Dogs of America, a network of 27 state-based organizations that offers like services.

Lost Dogs Illinois gives back to the community by providing free engraved ID tags, collars/leashes and microchips to pet owners in conjunction with area pet wellness and health care clinics.

Lost Dogs Illinois is in the forefront of working to change the accepted community mindset of “stray dog, no home” to “not all stray dogs are homeless.”

Lost Dogs Illinois works hand-in-hand with PetFBI  to establish one centralized national database of lost pets for pet owners and finders to reference in their searches.

Lastly, Lost Dogs Illinois has two of the best-looking mascots around in “Chip” and “Scanner.”

They routinely make road trips to pet health clinics and appear on Facebook to remind pet owners to microchip their pets and remind police departments, veterinary clinics and shelter staff to scan pets routinely for microchips, all to help the animals get back home.

Lydia Rypcinski

Coalitions Work to Keep Families Together in Illinois

This year already  Lost Dogs Illinois has partnered with several groups to offer free vaccines, microchips, collars and leashes and engraved ID tags. We pride ourselves in helping to preserve the human-animal bond.

April, 2017 – LDI partnered with Garrido Stray Rescue Foundation and Realtors to the Rescue to offer Free microchips and engraved ID tags to over 120 dogs and cats at the 16th Chicago Police District.

May 13, 2017 – LDI partnered with the Chicago Wolves to provide free services to over 535 dogs and cats at the McGuane Park, Chicago.

May 21st LDI along with One Tail at a Time and Alive Rescue offered free services to over 350 dogs and cats in the South Lawndale area.

 

Lost Dogs Illinois also offered 50 free microchips each to Whiteside County Animal Control and Lee County Animal Control for their low cost microchip clinics in May and June.

To round off our spring events, LDI attended Pawberry Lane Open House in April to provide free microchip scans.

LDI provided free microchip scans at the Humane Society of Aurora in May.

 

Thanks to Perfect Pooches rescue Lost Dogs Illinois was able to share a booth with them at the Paws on Route 66 in Joliet.

Please continue to support Lost Dogs Illinois and their mission by making a tax-deductible donation

Click here:  https://lostdogsillinois.org/support-ldi/

Lessons Learned from An Animal Control Officer

This week I, personally and professionally, learned a valuable lesson, never ever underestimate the survival instinct of a dog. I, because of this underestimating, did not do everything in my power to find a dog until a full day had almost passed which could have contributed to this dog losing her life. All because I underestimated a 5 pound chihuahua dragging a leash.

Blanca

This past weekend, Memorial day weekend I was sent a text message by another ACO from our neighboring AC about a tiny little chi who was lost in a forest preserve that was next to my territory. The family had been out at a party enjoyin the Memorial Day holiday and had their dog on leash. A bigger dog, not on leash, ran at this little dog, Blanca. Blanca in fear took off and the owner lost control of the leash. So the last the family saw of their little girl was her running through a parking lot in the forest preserve dragging her pink leash. They looked and didn’t see her again that day.

I found all this out about ten oclock that night. It was too late for me to get in the forest preserve (they lock the gates at the entrance). The rangers gave me permission to enter the park but without my vehicle because of the gate. Where they had seen Blanca was over a 1/2 mile inside the park and it was now pitch black. I would have never seen her if she was running around. In addition this forest preserve is large, has at least five different shelters, a running path and I didn’t have any idea even where I would look.

The whole night I was upset that I couldn’t help figuring this little one had no chance to survive the night. How would this little girl especially dragging a leash survive out there? Forest preserve is 99% forest. I figured she was either going to be eaten by a Coyote or her leash would get caught on a tree or a stump somewhere we would never find her and she would starve to death.

I went out looking for her at 7:00am the next morning hoping to see her. I did not and I really still wasn’t in the right mode because I honestly thought she was dead. Then later that afternoon I received a message from the family that she had been seen, that morning, and was still dragging her leash. I was thrilled and upset all at the same time. Here I was not doing what I would have normally been doing because I didn’t see how this little five pound little girl had survived but she did. But she was alive and she was depending on us to save her.

I jumped into the mode I should have already been in. I went out with a friend and our two dogs just to walk them out there. I brought food to set up a feeding station along with our trail camera. I had the family meet me out there to leave an article of clothing near our feeding  station and to just go out and hang out where she had last been seen. It was dusk now and the Park Rangers had given us permission to stay out there past closing time when it was quiet and dark. I felt we were doing what we needed to but about 12 hours too late because I didn’t expect this dog to still be alive. I was still kicking myself because if she did not make it I would feel responsible. We didn’t have a sighting but I felt more hopeful even though I was still very concerned about her getting this leash caught on something.

I drove out the next morning before I was on duty (dogs are known to be seen at dawn and dusk) and saw a guy at the maintenance facility which is where she had been seen last. I asked about if he had seen any dogs. He asked me, do mean the Chihuahua? I answered yes and how did he know. He said the family had just picked her up. Tears came to my eyes and I couldn’t believe it. She had not only survived another night avoiding coyotes and getting her leash caught on something, she had made it home to her family. The tears, of course fell. I asked the guy how they found her. Well next to the maintenance facility is a community garden and next to that garden, in plain sight are two sinks with legs. So this little girl has gone two days without getting her leash caught on a tree or stump in the forest where we would have most likely never found her and she would have starved or been coyote bait. Yet now she gets her leash caught on a leg to a sink right in plain sight where she was easily seen and couldn’t get away. Her dad had already come by earlier that morning, found her and brought her home.

This little one defied all odds and did it all on her own. If she had been bigger and not dragging her leash I would have been in a different mindset but instead I underestimated their amazing abilities and instincts. Yes, there was obviously some luck involved but with lost dogs you never know and I learned, you should never ever get up on them. They might just surprise you. And this story could have been very wrong but this little girl showed me that a 5 Chihuahua who misses her family has the will and ability to survive.

Dana

Thank you, Dana, for sharing your story.  Dana is the animal control officer for North Chicago.

April 23 is the Fourth Annual National Lost Dog Awareness Day

On April 23, the U.S. will celebrate its fourth annual National Lost Dog Awareness Day (NLDAD). This canine-centric awareness day was created by Lost Dogs of America to bring attention to the multitude of dogs that that go missing from their homes each and every day, while providing resources and hope to reunite them. The day and efforts to reunite lost pets with their owners is a tribute to the human-animal bond.

In the world of animal advocacy, adoption efforts of “homeless” dogs in shelters and rescues is a major and public focus. National Lost Dog Awareness Day places a new focus on lost pets and the need for increased “Return to Owner” (RTO) results since many “strays” are actually lost pets. This is at the heart of LDOA’s slogan “Not All Stray Dogs Are Homeless”.

When a pet goes missing, owners enter a frantic and difficult process to locate him/her. This is where Lost Dogs of America’s network of State specific volunteer efforts provide a free and valuable resource. Their years of expertise and dedicated volunteers provide a free support network for owners of lost pets. Increasingly, their efforts work in concert with a unique, free and integrated database of lost and found pets, HeLPingLostPets.com. This partnership provides a valuable complement to other lost and found pet sites and alerts offering unique exposure across State lines and searchable data vital for short AND long term missing pets.

This year’s NLDAD hopes to engage shelters, groups, and even individuals in a variety of ways as outlined in their “toolkit” on the Awareness Day page (www.lostdogsofamerica.org/awareness-day) The tenacious efforts of the combined Lost Dogs of America states’ volunteers, along with over 459,282 fans, have helped reunite over 99,521 dogs with their families since 2011. Increased awareness of lost pets helps reduce stress on owners through hope and resources, and works towards reducing intake at shelters/animal control facilities which ultimately:  can save shelter costs and taxpayer money  minimize pets being placed at risk of euthanasia due to overpopulation or resources,  open up valuable 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” explains Taney. “One of our most recent success stories was finding a Chihuahua named Mista.  He was missing for almost 7 days.. We never gave up, and neither did Mista’s family. Together, and with the help of our social media following, we successfully reunited him with his family. Testimonial from Mista’s family”: I was contacted by someone who saw my lost dog post on LDI and recognized my dog in an animal shelter website! I was able to reunite with my fur baby in a couple hours after being notified of his whereabouts.

BACKGROUND: NLDAD was created by Susan Taney, Kathy Pobloskie, and Marilyn Knapp Litt – directors of Lost Dogs Illinois and Lost Dogs of Wisconsin, Lost Dogs of Texas respectively.

The Lost Dog’s mission of all-volunteer organization created for the exclusive purpose of providing a free service to help reunite families with their lost dogs has steadily grown in scope and impact.

The Lost Dogs of America website was created and is maintained by the two original founding members of the Lost Dogs network: Lost Dogs of Wisconsin and Lost Dogs Illinois. The site shares articles, ideas and resources developed over years of dedicated expertise..

Web: www.lostdogsofamerica.org | lostdogsofamerica@gmail.com

Social: www.facebook.com/lostdogsamerica | www.twitter.com/lostdogsamerica

Lucy’s Story – A Four Pound Chihuahua Endures Two Weeks of Nasty Weather

Lucy backed out of her harness March 24th while at a family friend’s house in a gated community. There were sightings the first few days but people were chasing after her trying to catch her. She was running in fear from everyone between the gated community and a nearby trailer park, squeezing in and out of the wire fencing.
Then the bad weather came. Rain, Rain and more rain. Lucy’s owner and a good friend, as well as some volunteers got together and flyered all around the last sighting areas. Intersection signs also went up. There was much concern with the cold and rain. A day or two went by without sightings. Then another sighting but outside the gated community about 1.5 miles south. Lucy’s owner was able to spot her alongside a very busy country road. Lucy looked right at her mom and turned and ran. It was at this point she realized Lucy would probably need to be humanely trapped, something she was concerned about and hesitant to do. The days went on with a sighting a day… she was in someone’s garage… she was sitting on someone’s front stoop…When she was in an area, we’d try to get her to stay with a feeding station monitored by a camera but Lucy wasn’t ready to set up a “safe space” yet. Her owner and good friend continued to flyer around sightings so we wouldn’t lose track of  Lucy’s travels.
More rain and more cool weather but still no Lucy. Another call came in; this sighting was in Lucy’s small neighborhood, 2.5 miles from where she was lost, and just four houses from her home. Again with the camera and feeding station with an additional feeding station set up at her house. No Lucy. Then another call from a few houses over. Lucy was running around and under the decking of the neighboring house, a log cabin. There were a lot of hiding spots in this neighborhood. We were hoping she had set up a “safe space”. We set up the camera and food station again and caught her on camera the next day!
We moved a trap in… no go. Then the weather turned bad again. Rain and rain and rain with freezing temps. At this point Lucy had been lost for almost 2 weeks. Residents were skeptical she was still alive, saying there are coyotes and hawks. I told them, you’d be surprised. With the cold weather setting in, out of concern, Lucy’s Mom sat in the rain from a distance while she called Lucy calmly. She could see under a lot of the decking and nope, no Lucy. This morning we baited and set the trap again…some yummy hot and steamy ribs and fried chicken! Within an hour we had Lucy on camera at the trap and within seconds, she had tripped it!!!
When her owner and I showed up to take her out of the trap (in a contained enclosed area), Lucy didn’t recognize her Mom at first and growled and showed her teeth. This is typical with a dog that’s been pushed into survival mode. Within a few minutes though, Lucy was wagging her tail and ready to get out!

TRAPPED Safely

Lucy getting hugs

After seeing the vet this afternoon, Lucy was given the all clear. She is dehydrated and needs to put some weight on but is pretty healthy overall after her nearly two week ordeal, proving that dogs are resourceful and survivors.  Great job Erika, Connie, Laura and everyone else that assisted with flyers, support and positive thoughts! Another lost dog is back home to safety!

Lucky relaxing….

Thank you, Stephanie, for sharing Lucy’s story.