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Is your pet missing? | Missing/Stolen pet Report
How to protect your pet
Is your pet missing?
Look everywhere – around the house, in closed cupboards, closets etc. Check the yard, the neighborhood, go door-to-door. Comb the area within a two mile radius of your home. Pay particular attention to sheds, abandoned buildings, anywhere your pet could be hiding. Go to animal shelters, humane societies and SPCAs with a photo of your pet. Visit the facilities once a day for at least 10 days. Remember: telephone calls are not enough. You must go in person if you want to be certain to identify your pet. Place a lost-animal ad in all the local daily and weekly newspapers. Many local newspapers provide lost ads free of charge. Don't forget to check the "found animal" sections of these newspapers as well. Contact local radio and television stations. Many local stations provide "lost and found pet report" segments as a public service. Create a flyer with a picture of your pet. If possible, offer a reward of at least $300 to give pet thieves an incentive to return your pet. Post the flyers all over your neighborhood and beyond -- animals often wander away from the area surrounding their home. Also post the flyer in places with high visibility in your community, such as the grocery store, local veterinary offices, animal shelters, etc.Contact emergency veterinary clinics and other veterinary hospitals. Your pet may have been injured and taken to an emergency hospital or local veterinarian for treatment.Talk to delivery persons who travel in your neighborhood on a regular basis. Your U.S. mail carrier, water delivery person, gas company employee, meter reader, etc., may have seen your pet and can be on the lookout for your animal as they travel through the area.Call the laboratory animal departments of universities and hospitals in you area. You can get these numbers from your local town hall or from the Yellow Pages. Describe your animal to the laboratory personnel. In addition, go to these facilities in person with a photo of your animal to post in laboratory animal departments and in academic departments which include animal labs (i.e., most biological science and psychology departments). File a report with your local police department or sheriff's office. If you suspect that your animal has been stolen, report it immediately to the police. A police report will be useful for identification purposes when retrieving your pet and will prove helpful in court if a suspect is brought to trial. If the authorities are hesitant to prepare the report (which they usually are), remind them that pets by law are valuable property and their theft is either a felony or misdemeanor under all state laws. By law, the police must take action on your complaint. Be persistent in your search for your missing friend. Don't give up. There are many instances of cats and dogs being found after many months.
[This information has been excerpted from Stolen for Profit: The True Story Behind the Disappearance of Millions of America's Beloved Pets, by Judith Reitman. Kensington Books, 1995. Available in bookstores or from In Defense of Animals.]
You can also fill out the Missing/ Stolen Pet Report Form and return it to IDA. |
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For more information:
Contact: IDA Stolen Pet Coordinator
Phone:
415-388-9641 ext. 217
In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner
Blvd.,
San Rafael, CA 94901
Please help fund this campaign by giving the largest tax-deductible donation you possibly can.
If we are to be successful, we must place ads, hold press conferences, organize additional protests and produce thousands of cards, posters, flyers and brochures. |
