Too often we happen to come across ads of missing cats and dogs (on social media pages or on notes hanging on the streets). When you lose your four-legged friend, in fact, you would really do anything to find it; even offer a hefty reward in return. Here are some suggestions to increase the chances of finding your lost pet.
What to do immediately
The situations can vary. The dog might manage to take off the collar, running away from the owner, or the cat might have found the door open and walked away without being seen. For this reason, time can be the key factor when it comes to loss, considering that sometimes the owner may notice what has happened even several hours later.
If we experience the first option (pet runs away right in front of us) we can proceed in many different ways:
- Let’s not run after him. Very often the animals tend to run even faster if they feel chased, as they consider it a “funny game”;
- If we have taught the dog the command “come” or “stay”, after several minutes he may decide to listen to us, rather than his irrepressible desire for freedom. So let’s stay calm, don’t run after him and call him by his/her name, using one of these two commands mentioned above;
- Using a food reward could be a very valid solution, so call him with a tasty snack in our hands. We will give him the reward only after he approaches us. For the cat, on the other hand, it may be useful to take advantage of the noise factor, shaking the box of his favourite treats, to make him understand that it is time for food;
- It is forbidden to scream and get angry; otherwise, we will scare him;
- We remain calm and positive, pretending a cheerfulness that we certainly do not feel at that moment. The call, as we saw in the specific article, does not work if we are not convincing, so let’s arm ourselves with smiles and enthusiasm, lowering ourselves to our knees as if we wanted to play with him.
Once we are sure we can grab him, we calmly put the collar on the dog or take our cat in our arms, provided he is not frightened or aggressive. In these cases, in fact, it can be useful to bring the pet carrier or a blanket to wrap around the cat, to prevent it from fidgeting or scratching us.
After several hours / days
If we haven’t been able to get our four-legged friend back, but we know for sure where he is, we may need some extra help. Maybe he got stuck somewhere, climbed a tree, or can’t come back. In these cases, we must call the Fire Brigade at 999 or our veterinarian, who could provide first aid in case of need.
On the contrary, if we do not have the faintest idea where our dog / cat has ended up, we just have to do some laps in the surroundings, and call him non-stop. Once we have perfectly controlled the areas adjacent to the departure point or to our home, we expand the search range more and more, perhaps involving relatives and friends.
We consider that cats often avoid going too far, unless they are prey to the mating season. We should pay particular attention to the more sheltered areas. One of the favourite hiding places for cats are garages or basements, where they can take shelter and doze off until they begin to feel hungry and thirsty. From now on, he will start meowing loudly after several hours, just to be able to be helped out.
This aspect does not apply to those sick or seriously injured cats, who tend to run away just when they feel they no longer have time to fight and want to end their days peacefully.
Still nothing? Well, it’s time to get the word out. Let’s arm ourselves with recent photographs of our friend, in which you can see the details, such as the colour of the eyes, the shape of the face ext.…
The photograph will be used to write an advertisement, to be printed and spread on the street or in pet shops, and to be disseminated on social networks.
The text must include some very important elements:
- First name
- Gender
- Breed
- size
- Hair colour
- Eyes colour
- Particular signs (spots of different colour on the hair, scars, docked tail, etc.)
- Character (frightened, sociable, affectionate, aggressive towards other animals)
- Collar (colour of the collar, presence of the tag)
- Microchip (present / absent, identification number)
- Date of disappearance
- Place of disappearance
On this page, you can download pre-set templates divided according to the species, to be filled in with a photo and data of your animal.
Always ask the animal welfare organizations in your area for a hand, they will be happy to share your complaint.
If within 24 hours we have not yet been able to hear from our four-legged friend, we absolutely must go to the competent authorities, such as:
- Municipal Police of our Municipality
What we have to do is report the loss of our dog / cat, through a written report, which is then issued as a copy to the owner. The report sheet must therefore be delivered to the local ASL Veterinary Services, also bringing with you:
- Certificate of registration in the canine registry
- European passport (if present)
- Report form written and signed by the owner
- Valid identity document and owner’s tax code
We must always pay close attention to this step, because according to Italian law, the owner who does not report the removal of his animal may be suspected of abandonment and therefore would become punishable in all respects.