-Please Read Our Open Letter

 

–We would encourage you to email, mail, or drop off a copy at your local animal control/stray holding facility or shelter. Thank you so much for your help! You, our fans, are the ones who help us to make small changes that benefit the animals. Don’t ever underestimate the power of one!

Dear Animal Care Colleague,

Thank you for all you are doing to help the animals in your care.  We appreciate the effort you put forth on a daily basis to help return lost pets to their owners and to adopt others into new families.

At Lost Dogs Illinois our mission is to reunite lost dogs with their owners.  We’d like to share some suggestions to help lost pets make it back home and hope by doing so the following practices will become standard in every animal care facility.  We feel we can all then work together even more effectively resulting in an increased likelihood that lost pets will ultimately be reunited with his or her family!

  1. Scan every animal that is brought to your shelter for a microchip using “Best Microchip Procedures.”
  2. Keep detailed records about where and when an animal was picked up and make this information available to the public.
  3. Keep detailed records of calls your facility receives from people who have lost a pet.  Request that they send in pictures of their lost pets and show the photos to your staff members and volunteers immediately after you receive them.
  4. Use an easily-accessed bulletin board where owners of lost pets are welcome to post their “lost pet” flyers.  Use a volunteer to maintain the board and have the volunteer call the owner identified on each flyer every week to see if the individual has found his or her pet.
  5. Add links to your shelter’s website to reference articles and other sites that provide owners with reliable advice about how they can find their lost pets.
  6. Post pictures of lost pets brought to your facility on your organization’s Facebook page and/or website.
  7. Mention whether a dog that is adoptable or impounded was brought to your shelter as a surrender or a stray. Use Helping Lost Pets website, a national database of lost and found animals.
  8. Have volunteers or staff members compare lost pet reports with the animals your facility is holding as strays to see if any match.
  9. Scan every animal in your shelter one last time before allowing him or her to be adopted or euthanized.

Thank you for taking the time to review the above list.  And, again, thank you for your commitment to the animals in your shelter.  We know that without your efforts, very few lost pets would ever make it back to their respective homes or get a second chance with a loving family.  We are truly grateful for everything you do.  And we look forward to working with you and your facility for years to come.

Sincerely,

Lost Dogs Illinois