Who Doesn’t Look for Their Lost Dog? At least 30 Locals, Apparently
3 Jan
If your dog is missing, you should look for it.
No-duh, right? Wrong, apparently.
For some reason, a Wake County animal shelter is seeing an influx of lost dogs, and no one appears to be claiming them. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals issued a news release today urging “Pet Owners to Search for the Lost Dogs.” SPCA officials suspect that up to 30 of the 73 dogs currently in its lost and found pet center have owners who just haven’t found them.
“It would be tragic for these dogs not to be reunited with their owners just because the owner didn’t know where to look,” said spokeswoman Mondy Lamb. The shelter takes in stray animals found outside the Raleigh, Cary and Garner areas, according to the news release. She speculates that the influx might be the result of dog owners being out-of-town for the holidays and their dogs got out. Now, she guesses, they don’t know where to look or haven’t done a thorough search
So what should you do if your pet goes missing? Fill out a lost animal report online. Then go to the lost and found pet center to look for your lost pup anytime between 3 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Have you ever lost a pet? If so, did you find it or was it lost forever?
Great blog Ginny thanks for posting this!! So glad you are on our team.
I’ve yet to lose the dog… the lost dogs of the world find us… and then we end up with lots of dogs to find homes for. It’s how it seems to work in my fam! Bah!
I haven’t lost an pet, but the dog I have now was likely somebody’s lost pet. He wound up at the Wake County Animal Shelter in July 2006 as a stray found in Wendell.. He was already around 5 years old and at least had some people-skills, so he clearly had had people taking care of him at some point.
It was hard for me to imagine that his owners just gave up on him and didn’t bother to look for him. But it’s also very hard for me to believe that his owners wouldn’t know to check with the animal shelter. So I imagine he got loose one day, perhaps during a trip away from home, so he was confused by his surroundings, and the owners decided it was for the best for one reason or another. He last for five weeks at the shelter, but likely wouldn’t have lasted much longer had I not gotten him out of there. (The Wake Shelter, as opposed to the SPCA, is a kill shelter. There simply aren’t the resources to keep all the animals around. Of course, there are far worse scenarios in nearby counties where almost all animals are pretty much put down within a week of their arrival).
So the cute pup I see in all your pet pics is from the shelter. Usually I reserve this type of comment for cute clothes my friends find at a thrift shop, but I think it applies to your situation too: “Good Find”
my older cat disappeared once in early spring about 10 years ago. she was at the shelter. (She died in summer 06 at the age of 18)
apparently she’d been picked up while sleeping in the rocking chair on my front steps, despite the professed policy of Durham Animal Control not to pick up cats on private property.
cost me almost a hundred bucks, too, not counting the vet bill afterward to deal with a case of kennel cough.
kind of makes me wonder why it’s so damn hard to get Animal Control to deal with people who are actively abusing their animals.