Missing Pets: Tips and Resources for the GTA
By: Faith P.
Missing Pets: Tips and Resources for the GTA. Finding out your beloved pet is missing is a nightmare for most pet owners. There are, however, measures you can take to have a better chance of finding and bringing home your pet. These are some tips you can use and some resources that can help.
Call Animal Shelters and Animal Control Agencies
Inform every animal shelter and animal control agency nearby where your pet went missing; find their contact information online or physically go to the shelter or agency to inform them. If there is no animal shelter in the area, you can call your local police department and ask them to keep an eye out for your missing pet. You should especially notify the police if you think someone stole your dog. You should try visiting the animal shelters every day or as often as possible until you find your pet.
When you notify the shelters, animal control agency or the police, remember to give them an accurate description of your pet along with a recent coloured photo; this allows them to be able to recognize your pet if they do see it out.
Look Through Your Neighbourhood
Once you notice your pet is missing, you should immediately paint your neighbourhood because they may not have gotten very far from home. As you go around your area, visit your neighbours and ask them if they have seen your pet and if they can keep a lookout for them: the more people who are looking, the better chance of you reuniting with your pet.
Advertise
Make it known to as many people as possible that your pet is missing; this allows a greater chance of finding them. You should make posters and cards that you can put up and hand out to spread awareness. On these Posters and cards, you should have an easy-to-read font, a brief description of your pet, the name of your pet, and your contact information. In your posters, you should leave out one piece of identifying information to try and avoid scammers.
Advertising your missing pet also means posting all the information on social media, newspaper ads and contacting local radio stations. You should also be putting up posters in any place where many people frequent: grocery stores, intersections, and community centers.
You should also visit a veterinarian hospital around the area. If someone finds your pet injured, they will likely bring them to a vet to check the injures. You should cover a larger radius than what you think is necessary because missing pets are often found a couple of kilometres away.
Make Sure You Have Your Phone
Remember your phone. After you put up all the posters and informed as many people as possible, keep your phone on you at all times. Your phone is now the primary way of finding information about your pet’s whereabouts, whether someone finds them or if someone thinks they saw them. Turn your notifications and ringer on; this allows you to know if something has happened immediately. Being quick is essential when you are looking for a missing pet because it gives you a better chance of finding them.
Offer a Reward
You should offer a reward for finding your pet. The prize provides an extra incentive for more people to go out of their way and look for your pet. You should state that you have a reward for finding your pet. However, you should not post the sum of money you’re offering on the posters; this helps you stray away from scammers and people who have no intention on helping you and only want your money.
Be Wary of Scammers
As said above, some people may not have good intentions and don’t want to help you. If someone calls you to say that they have found your pet, ask them for the description of them. Do this before offering any more information about where to meet or the reward offered. If they don’t include the identifying characteristic that you left out of your poster, they are likely lying about finding your pet and are trying to get the reward money. Be very wary if the person asks you to send them the reward money before giving back your pet.
Don’t Give Up
This part is crucial. You cannot give up. It doesn’t matter if you can’t find your pet within a week or two; you will always have a bigger chance of finding your pet if you don’t give up. Some missing pets have been found after months, so you should not lose hope of your pet coming home.
Resources
Toronto Animal Services: Animal Control: 311 or TAS Dispatch 416-338-7297 (PAWS) https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/animals-pets/lost-found-pets/
Vaughan Animal Control: (905) 832-2281, 1-855-227-7297 (PAWS), animal.services@vaughan.ca
Markham Animal Control: 1-888-668-7722 ext 319
Links:
https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/what-do-if-you-lose-your-pet
https://www.petfinder.com/cats/lost-and-found-cats/lost-pet/
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