CHENNAI : What if your dog goes missing? It’s the feeling that chills every pet owner. Your dog could be anywhere, but the one thing you know is he’s not where he belongs —home with you.
But before we delve into how to locate your missing dogs, let’s discuss some preventative measures to minimise the chances of your dog running away.
Nametag
It’s mandatory that every pet of yours sports a name tag with his or her name and two contact numbers. It’s easily available at any pet store or even and online.
Harness
Never walk your dog with the leash hooked to the collar. It’s impractical as they can easily wriggle out of it. Invest in a good quality harness. Never ever let your dog go on walks or answer nature’s call on his own, however obedient he might be, or however safe your locality might be. Dogs have zero sense of direction. They can easily get spooked by crackers or strange sounds. Also, stealing of dogs by breeders is common. They wait for such opportunities. So never ever let your dog go for a walk unattended.
Sterilise your dog
This is the number one reason dogs run away. An unsterilised dog will run to answer mating instincts. Sterilise him. It will be the best thing you will do to your dog. Visit shelters and see how many lost dogs are languishing there. If nothing else changes your mind, the sight of numerous dogs languishing in shelters and lost dogs on roads should convince you to neuter your dog. When you have brought home a dog for the first time, be careful about the walking schedule. Keep a close eye and be vigilant till your new member settles down in unknown surroundings.
How to find a missing pet
Now let’s discuss about how to go about looking for a missing pet. First and foremost don’t panic. Take a deep breath and start going through these steps. If you’re calm, methodical, and thorough, you’ll be reunited with your pet in no time. The first few hours are extremely important. The sooner you start looking, the faster you’ll find him. So as soon as you ascertain that the dog truly is gone, it’s time to set the wheels in motion.
Check CCTV footage and check with immediate neighbours and local vendors if they have seen your pet bolting from home and in which direction he or she has run.
Posters
Keep in mind few pointers about the poster. It should have a bright eye-catching colour background and text. His face in the picture should be facing the camera. And the text should be minimal and focused. If you are in a bilingual community, put your sign in both languages on the same poster.
Reward
You need to include the word ‘Reward’ in big letters. The announcement of a reward and the amount should be in the biggest font possible. Plaster the entire area wall to wall. This will generate dialogues and have a great recall value. Systematically, search every lane with friends. Put up the posters. Check under the gutters and any probable hiding area that your dog might have gone to.
Talk to people
Talk to local vendors, maids, drivers and municipality workers. They are sometimes the best informants you can get.
Tell everyone about the cash reward. Visit vets, pet boardings, animal hospitals, animal shelters and pet stores in the area. Put up the posters there too. Run a missing ad in newspapers and insert the poster pamphlets in the newspapers of your area.
Post on your local online community; post about your pet not only on animal forums on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter but also your area-specific community. By doing this, you are getting more and more people to keep a look out for your dog. Start a conversation with the breeder network. This is where it will help if your dog is sterilised. Tell them about how he or she is unable to reproduce or cook up such a story and talk about the reward money to be handed over in cash.
Keep an eye on online selling portals such as OLX and QUIKR. Most stolen dogs end up on such portals. Take help from an animal communicator, if need be, to find your missing pet.
Keep calm
Don’t give up because your pet is depending on you to find him. Be calm and follow the steps systematically and you will find him. But when you do, kindly keep in mind the preventative measures outlined in the beginning and implement those. It’s a question of a life. Why take any risk? We can never be careful enough for our loved ones, right?