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LOST PETS
It happens every day.
Pets escape from a backyard, house, or vehicle. Few are wearing
tags when it happens. Still fewer ever find their way back home.
Garland Animal Services
has some tips for owners of lost pets. First of all, the old
saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"
applies in this situation. Check your fence regularly. Keep it in
good repair. A padlock on the back yard gate can prevent
inadvertent opening of the gate by a passerby.
Place identification tags
on your pets (dogs and cats). City registration tags are required
by city ordinance on all cats and dogs ages three months and
older. Garland Animal Services, like most other municipal animal
shelters, has a longer holding period for tagged animals than
untagged animals (6 day minimum for tagged animals versus 3 day
for untagged animals). This helps to ensure that a pet is still at
the shelter in the event an owner is out of town or otherwise
unavailable. The longer holding period applies to an animal with
ANY type of tag, including rabies tags from veterinary clinics and
city tags from other municipalities.
Garland Animal Services
will attempt to trace any type of tag. Over the years, animals
with tags have been returned to owners in other cities and several
other states. One dog was even flown home to Canada.
Be sure that the tags on
your animals can be traced. Your veterinarian or city animal
shelter personnel need to be informed of any changes in your name,
address, or telephone numbers. The advantage of a city
registration tag over other types of tags is that animal shelter
personnel have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week access to information
that will allow them to contact an owner. This is especially
important if the animal is picked up injured at night or on a
weekend. If an owner can be contacted, an animal services officer
can transport the injured animal to a nearby emergency clinic for
prompt treatment.
When leaving your pets in
the care of friends, family, or pet sitters, provide the caretaker
with the phone numbers of your local animal shelters and your pets
veterinarian. Be sure that the caretaker has access to the owners
telephone messages. It is important that caretakers know to go to
the local animal shelters and that the caretaker can positively
identify the animal. (It helps to leave a current photo with the
caretaker.)
Pet owners should check
with local animal shelters as soon as possible after learning that
their pet is missing. Personal visits to the shelters are
extremely important. Descriptions of animals often vary
greatly from person to person, especially if the animal is a mixed
breed. While at the shelter, a lost pet report can be completed,
including a photo, if available. It is a good idea to check animal
shelters in all the surrounding cities, especially if you live
near city boundaries. Sometimes, the "finder" of a lost
pet takes it to the animal shelter that he or she is most familiar
with or the one that is most conveniently located for the
"finder," not realizing that the owner may not be
looking for the animal at that particular shelter.
Animal shelter personnel
do not mind if you look for your pet every day, and they urge
owners to keep looking for several weeks. Often, a "good
Samaritan" will take in a lost pet and keep it for 2-3 weeks
before deciding to contact the animal shelter for help in
reuniting the pet with its owner.
Adoptable
Animals
Created and maintained
by the City of Garland, Management Information Services Department and Public Information
Department - Report page problems and suggestions to: - Last Updated: 03/23/01 |
