Lost/Missing Pets

Searching for a lost or missing animal is the most upsetting time for any animal lover.

Taking immediate action is crucial when you have lost a pet.

Talk to your neighbors, especially the children who play in the neighborhood. Go door to door. Leave your name, address and telephone number plus a complete description of your animal. Search in the evenings when it"s quiet. Call or whistle. If your pet is injured or frightened, he may be hiding. Drive slowly around your neighborhood; sometimes a dog will recognize the sound of your car. Do keep in mind that cats sometimes climb into cars, and are transported miles away before jumping out. Look in EVERY nook and cranny. Don't assume that your pet would never crawl into some tiny space.

Place strong-scented articles outside your home to attract your pet. Animals find their way by scent as well as sound.

Make a poster to alert people to be on the lookout for your lost pet. Place copies of the poster within twenty block radius of where the animal was lost. Put them up on local community bulletin boards, in grocery stores, etc.

Place an Ad in your local newspaper.

Go to all the local shelters and the government agencies charged with picking up stray and lost animals and look for yourself, at least every other day.

Contact local rescue organizations

You may also enlist the help of an animal communicator.

The most important thing you can do is remain calm. Your pet may be trying to connect with your energy to find his way home.

This is an exercise which has been around for a long time and you can do this as often as you can to help to bring your lost/missing pet back home and to calm them into feeling that they are returing to a safe place.

Objective: To trade places (mentally) with a dog or cat, or other animal.

Instructions:

1. Relax your body as completely as you can. Calm your mind, eliminating all and all thoughts which do not relate to your intent and purpose. Sit so that you are comfortable and close up  picture of Julie with you. Lie down if you like. The important thing is that you are able to comfortably make eye contact with your pet in this exercise (a picture of your pet will work, since in this situation we cannot get this close to the animal).  

2. Take a deep breath. As you slowly exhale, look into the animal's eyes, and imagine that a part of your awareness is being transmitted through your breath into the animal's mind. Envision you pet breathing and imagine that a part of her/his awareness is being transmitted into your mind.

3. Continue looking directly into the picture of your pet's eyes until you feel your consciousness merge with the animal's consciousness.

4. Start sending out love and a feeling of your pet coming closer and closer. Envision your home, your yard and the area surrounding your home. This will help your pet if they are trying to find their way back to you.

Benefits:

As the boundaries between you and the animal dissolve, you may feel as if you've really traded places with your pet, as though a part of you has become them - this is the height of subjective merging. You may begin to feel compassion and you will probably recognize some of the artificial differences between the human and animal worlds. You may be able to feel or sense the actual flow of emotions and mental imagery. Don't be disappointed if you do not sense anything the first time you try this. With anything it does take practice but your love for your pet will certainly help this along.

How To Protect Your Pets Now

Safeguard your pets before they are lost by following the common-sense tips below.

Pet-proof your yard fence so your cat or dog will be safely confined. Be sure to check your fence regularly for new escape routes.

Keep fence gates securely locked. This is for the safety of both your pet and any visitors (wanted or unwanted).

Never allow your pets to roam free in the neighborhood. Leash them at all times.

Always transport a cat in a carrier. Never take your cat to the Vet or anywhere else unless it is secured. A carried cat can bolt and hide if frightened by loud noises. When a cat is frightened in strange surroundings, especially with traffic noise around, it will hide and will not come to you.

The same goes for dogs. Always leash them when taking them anywhere. If a dog gets loose in an unfamiliar area its chances of ever finding its way home are practically nil.

Get some good photos of your pet now, before it's too late.

Take close-up shots so that details show up well.

Keep taking shots until you get a few good ones that really look like your pet. Most snapshots of pets look like any other cat or dog. You want your photos to be unique and your pet to be unmistakable.

These photos will be invaluable to you later if your pet is ever lost.

Ensure that YOU can be located if your pet is found.

Always keep a collar on your pet with a tag that has your CURRENT PHONE NUMBER on it.

Always have a CURRENT rabies tag and pet license tag attached to your pet's collar. You can be found by the number on the tags.

A collar and phone tag are the most important form of ID you can have for your pet.

For extra security, you may choose to also have a backup ID system (See the next two items.)

Talk to your vet about a microchip implant. A chip provides positive and reliable identification for your pet and all modern shelters scan animals for this ID device. Find out which brand of chip is prevalent in your area and go with that one.

Also ask your vet about pet tattoos. They provide positive identification if done correctly. A tattoo is often very difficult to read because hair has grown over it and/or the lost animal is frightened and will not allow inspection. If you do use a tattoo, the best place to apply it is on the inner thigh. Pet thieves have been known to cut off a tattooed ear!

More about rabies tags.

It is absolutely vital that your pet have a CURRENT rabies tag on it at all times!

If a county happens to be under a "Rabies Alert" or a "Rabies Quarantine" and your pet is picked up without a current rabies tag, they WILL kill your loved one! It's a public health issue, so you will have no recourse.

Please don't let this happen to your pet!

And finally, spay or neuter your pets!

Both males and females will be much less likely to wander if they are "fixed." An added benefit is that they will live a longer, happier, healthier life if they are spayed or neutered.