The Stars Aligned for Buster, a lost dog…

On Thursday, August 4^th, Susan, Lost Dogs Illinois’s (LDI) Director, received an email from Arthur H., City of Chicago Animal Care and Control (CACC) shelter manager, asking if LDI would help with a dead end chip. Art included the kennel card and the results of CACC’s own search.

Susan posted the search request on the Microchip Hunters group asking for help. The chip was a 900 chip and can be very hard to research. On a whim Susan decided to Google the microchip. An ad for the basset came up on a website. She tried contacting the website with no results.

Basset Hound Puppy with matching microchip ID number

On Friday, Susan decided to post an alert to LDI Fans about this found basset hound with a “dead end” chip. Within an hour, we read a comment from Jenn, LDI Fan, had reached a contact on the website. The website contact was calling the breeder. The breeder called back with the pet store phone number. Jenn called the pet store and got the owner’s name.

Jenn contacted Susan with the owner’s name and phone number. Immediately Susan called the owner who just that day arrived home from vacation and did not know Buster was missing. The relative who was taking care of Buster had not informed her that Buster had gone missing on 8/1. An Oh Oh moment!

Susan called CACC’s Director, Susan R, to inform her that Buster’s family was coming to the shelter to claim their dog. By the time Susan got to the desk, the relative was there claiming the dog and had all necessary paperwork.

Welcome Home Buster!

Buster did not need a new home; he needed to go home. Thank you, Art, for contacting LDI to help in the research of the chip. Thank you, Jenn, for becoming part of a community to help Buster get home.

LDI/LDOA does provide a service to help in the search of dead end chips and tags. To learn more……click on this link Microchip Hunters

Free Pet Health Fair – July 30,2016

Jackie, Lydia, Susan, Alderman Lopez & Rebecca

What happens when a City funded animal control (City of Chicago Animal Care and Control), not for profit organization (Lost Dogs Illinois) and a professional hockey team (Chicago Wolves) join together for the second time? They put on a Free Pet Health Fair sponsored by Alderman Raymond Lopez.

As quoted on Lopez’s Facebook page: “On average, the rabies vaccination as well as the five main canine vaccines can cost up to $150 per pet. Thanks to this collaborative effort, not only was I able to keep our pets current on their shots & healthy, but also save 15th Ward Residents over $105,000 in required vaccination costs!”

Also each dog was microchipped and received an engraved ID tag that was attached to their collar. Over 400 ID tags were donated by Lost Dogs Illinois.

These pictures say it all….. preserving the human/animal bond.

Preserving Human/Animal Bond

Waiting in the shade.

Last Saturday in sizzling heat of 90 degrees-plus, approximately 100 dogs and a couple of cats received free vaccinations, microchips with free lifetime registration, flea and tick products, Martingale collars, leashes and an engraved ID tag that was promptly attached to each pet’s collar. Thirty-five volunteers from other organizations and Lost Dogs Illinois partnered together to work with North Chicago Animal Control.

Lost Dogs Illinois is one of the first organizations in the state dedicated to preserving the human/animal bond. We believe people want to do right by their animals. When you bring affordable services and resources to a community, they will come. So in that tone, we think these pictures says it all……

Best Buddies!

Engraving ID tags

Love!

Dogs love kids!

Attaching an ID tag

Joy!

Registration and Free goodie bags

Waiting patiently!

Photo credits….Amy K.

Scanning to make sure the microchip was inserted.

Chipped and tagged ready to go!

Orland Park Township Pet Palooza – June 25,2016

Several hundred people attended the Orland Park Township Pet Palooza in support of the Pet Food Pantry.

Lost Dogs Illinois Booth

Lost Dogs Illinois offered free microchip scans. Each dog was scanned to see if the chip was working. Also the owner was given the microchip number and the Company’s phone number to check if the owner’s contact information is correct.

Scanning different dogs.

Pet Extravaganza – June 4, 2016 – Responsible Pet Ownership

Alderman Ariel E. Reboyras, State Representative Jaime Andrade and City of Chicago Animal Care and Control co-hosted a low-cost vaccine and microchip clinic, Saturday, June 4th. Lost Dogs Illinois was invited to provide FREE engraved ID tags for each dog and cats who received vaccinations and/or a microchip. Each tag along with the rabies tag was attached to the dog’s or cat’s collar before leaving the clinic. Also each participant received our 5 Things to do if you lost a dog or found a dog. Over 100 dogs and cats were chipped and tagged!

Collage of photos from the event.

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

Microchips and Your Pets

Microchip

Microchip2

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!