{"id":1765,"date":"2016-09-09T00:35:57","date_gmt":"2016-09-09T00:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/pets\/help-my-pet-s-missing\/"},"modified":"2016-09-09T00:35:57","modified_gmt":"2016-09-09T00:35:57","slug":"help-my-pet-s-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/pets\/help-my-pet-s-missing","title":{"rendered":"Help! My Pet’s Missing!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Cover<\/strong><\/p>\n

Photo by Soloviova Liudmyla<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A lost, stolen or otherwise missing pet is devastating to the human. Not knowing where your dog, cat or parrot is or how he or she is doing is literally sickening\u2014knotted stomachs, tension, anxiety, three-in-the-morning woeful, intrusive thoughts. Signs go up on every block with your pet\u2019s photo, your contact information and your every hope in the world.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, it works; sometimes, it doesn\u2019t. Various sources report about 10 million pets a year that go missing, with a smaller number of returns to owner. But Long Beach is an animal-loving community with plenty of resources and people who get it and jump in in to help. Thanks to the efforts of passionate and compassionate residents, there are lots of new tools to help find a lost or stolen pet or locate the human belonging to one. Here they are in the hope that they\u2019ll help if you\u2019re either missing a pet or want to keep them safe.<\/p>\n

\"SocialMEdiaADogsLifePhoto\"<\/h1>\n

Photo by A Dog’s Life Photo<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Social Media<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other apps and pages, anyone\u2019s chances of finding a missing pet or pet owner have increased considerably. These resources give a missing pet a higher profile and a better chance of reuniting with its owner.<\/p>\n

Facebook Pages<\/strong><\/p>\n

Locally, Long Beach\/562 Lost and Found Pets<\/a>, Lakewood and Long Beach Lost and Found Pets<\/a>, Santa Fe Springs Lost and Found Pets<\/a>, and Lost and Found Paws in the Los Angeles Metro Area<\/a>\u2014lots more about the last one in a future article\u2014are free pages founded by pet advocates. Each website has photos and descriptions of lost pets, found pets and stolen pets. Guidelines are provided for posting and announcing when the pet or owner has been located\u2014you never get tired of seeing those. The site managers also provide helpful tips and other links and resources for locating your pet and informative graphics to share.<\/p>\n

A shout-out to each of the administrators of these pages is called for: Rebecca Sampson, Sarah Rogers and Catherine Hiatt Garcia for Lakewood and Long Beach; Tamara Lopez for Santa Fe; someone who prefers to remain anonymous for Long Beach\/562 Lost and Found Pets, but she knows who she is; and Teresa Wekid and Helen Trimble\u2014more about her later as well\u2014for Lost and Found Paws\u2014thank you for being connective forces.<\/p>\n

NextDoor<\/strong><\/p>\n

For those who\u2019ve never publicly posted a yard sale or alerted people in the area about suspicious activity, NextDoor<\/a>\u00a0is, as described on its webpage, a \u201cprivate social network for your neighborhood.\u201d The way it works is this: You access the page, plug in your address, and get directed to your neighborhood. Then, you create an account, and bingo! You\u2019ve got access to babysitters, requests for services, crime-watch details, people asking if anyone else is being plagued with tiny flies around their drain, and any number of provocative, vituperative and downright nasty comments about social and political issues.<\/p>\n

But if you want to experience \u201clove thy neighbor\u201d in spades, post a request for a recommendation for a veterinarian or a lost or a found pet. You\u2019ll get full threads of support and offers of help. There have been successful reunions, offers to foster the animal, and \u201cfinder failures\u201d when people don\u2019t find a pet owner and wind up with a new cat or dog.<\/p>\n

The NextDoor app\u2019s free. At its best, you\u2019ll find an endless source of community information and activity; at worst, there\u2019s an equally endless source of entertainment.<\/p>\n

Long Beach Animal Care Services\u2019 (ACS)<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0Online Toolbox<\/strong><\/p>\n

A couple of years ago, ACS came up with a couple of innovative ways to help people find their pets. Their Lost and Found page<\/a>\u00a0gives tips on locating a pet and what to do if it winds up in the shelter. One of the page\u2019s features is a real-time Twitter feed<\/a>\u00a0where you can check for a lost pet or post one you\u2019ve found.<\/p>\n

Lost My Doggie.com\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>describes its services as \u201csimilar to an Amber Alert.\u201d There are three levels of service offered: the free one, which posts lost pets\u2019 photos and information and emails that information to 25 shelters and veterinary offices; one for $54.95, which offers telephone alerts to neighbors in addition to the first-level services, and the $94.95 level, which combines both lower levels and adds physical mailers. This has the added benefit of helping to keep the U.S. Postal Services solvent.<\/p>\n

Before you use this service, remember that you pay for the company\u2019s work and that there\u2019s no guarantee of success. I\u2019ve never used the page myself, but I know people who have, and they like it. Most reviews are positive. As always, caveat emptor. <\/i>And cave canem<\/i>, besides.<\/p>\n

Local Long Beach Page<\/strong><\/p>\n

Long Beach, Calif.<\/a>,\u00a0is yet another contribution of Justin Rudd, Long Beach\u2019s answer to the Energizer Bunny. The page isn\u2019t specifically tailored to find lost pets, but anything Long Beach related can be posted, and that includes pet information.<\/p>\n

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Singular Support Systems<\/h1>\n

\"Captain\"911setup\"<\/p>\n

\"Lost<\/p>\n

The following three organizations cannot be afforded the space they merit in a general article. They\u2019re definitely balance tippers and deserve their own spotlight, which they\u2019ll get in the next article. But if you\u2019ve lost your pet or found someone else\u2019s, you\u2019ll want to know who they are, what they do, and how to contact them. So, here are the trailers:<\/p>\n

Captain Care<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>is an all-volunteer nonprofit founded in 2014 by Phyllis Kuehn, with the aim of keeping pets out of shelters and in their homes. To help keep animals from getting lost in the first place, they stamp out free name tags to attach to collars. Kuehn stresses that name tags aren\u2019t a substitute for microchips, but if the pet is wearing one, owner return can be immediate.<\/p>\n

911 Lost Pet Rescue <\/strong><\/a>is a literal mom-and-pop service. Long Beach residents Nancy and Larry Gorman launched it in 2014. It\u2019s run by volunteers, is free of charge (with the exception of some printing costs), and involves the use of flyers, a reward system and actual boots on the ground. Like Captain Care, 911 provides name tags for the pets.<\/p>\n

The previously mentioned Helen Trimble <\/strong>is an extraordinary person even for an animal advocate. She lives in Maryland, yet she\u2019s reunited 2,300 lost or missing pets with their owners in the Los Angeles area, beginning in 2013. She partners with Lost and Found Paws in the Los Angeles Metro Area<\/a>, and her success photos can be seen on that page.<\/p>\n

Old-School Tools<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\"Lost<\/strong><\/p>\n

Photo by Ramon RDGZ<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Typewriters may be obsolete and landlines might be headed that way, but the tried-and-true methods of tacking up fliers and posters around the neighborhood are still proving their effectiveness. Used in combination with the tools described in the article, returns will be more positive\u2014literally.<\/p>\n

Some tips for posters and fliers:<\/p>\n