|
FIRST:.ASK FOR HELP
|
TELEPHONE THESE CONTACTS.
Describe breed, size, weight, color, and where the dog was last seen.
1. Local Humane Society
2. Your veterinarian AND local emergency vet clinic
3. Microchip registry (your dog was chipped, right?!)
4. Local Police Department
5. Local County Sheriff's Department
6. ALL local veterinary clinics/pet shops/groomers/dog training facilities
7. ALL local restaurants (where else would a hungry dog go?!)
|
SECOND: ORGANIZE A "LOST DOG" SEARCH
(Thank you Lu of Havanese Rescue, Debbie Hall (Lostdogsearch@aol.com) of New England, and Sandi Dremel (www.doginfomat.com) for providing this information!)
|
|
1. PREPARE
|
 Make COPIES of FLYERS with a current picture of the dog, description, and contact info. (Door to door flyers for homes and businesses is most critical and effective search strategy; searching through woods is NOT) |
| Make COPIES OF LOCAL STREET MAPS - helpers must know how to get from point A to B and back to main house |
| Provide numbers for a PHONE TREE: All volunteers must KNOW WHO TO CALL FIRST with important info or sightings. |
| Keep a MASTER MAP for dog sightings at main location; mark down any sighting no matter how old |
| Keep a MASTER MAP of which streets/homes/businesses were given flyers; update it as volunteers check in |
|
2. ORGANIZE
|
| Upon arrival, each volunteer is handed copies of the flyers, a map of the area, and a list of phone tree numbers |
| Assign each volunteer a "goal" to cover x number streets/businesses. Mark this off on your master map! |
| Make sure volunteers cover all the BUSINESSES in area, esp. FOOD ones that have DUMPSTERS. Dumpster does not have to be "open" in order for the old food odors inside to attract dogs. |
|
3. SEARCH
|
| Don't have people walking thru wooded areas calling to dog. Owner or one person may do so with other dog (not groups) and talking gently as you go, walking in and walking out, laying a trail of combo of biscuits and small pieces of meat. |
| No off-leash dogs during the search. |
| If a search party is coordinated, search party should not "hunt" or make loud noises when searching. |
| Too many dogs or strange ones will only most likely scare off a lost dog - too much to deal with trying to recognize all these strange people and dogs with them. |
|
|
OTHER NOTABLE THINGS
|
| If someone reports an old sighting - that's wonderful -- gives you something to mark on the "sightings" map. |
| Never never assume dog isn't still in the area if you have a sighting that's an hour or so old. |
| ALWAYS attempt to get the media involved. Be ready with a human interest angle of why THIS dog is so important to be returned. |
| If you have the funds, take out a LARGE ad in the Sunday newspaper to report the lost dog. |
|
|
| There are two types of "runners": |
| 1. "Most runners" Will stay within a 3 mile radius of where they were lost. |
| 2. "Line runners": They take off at a point and follow some sort of "line": railroad tracks, a waterway, road, etc. |
| Get permission from stores to post info even if it seems like the lost dog is just too far away from that location in case the dog is a "line runner". |
Visit the WI/MN Missing Pets Network to: 
