KPassa
Member Since 2012
My non-diabetic, Henry, never returned home Sunday night. :cry: I figured I'd share what I've done so far to find him in case anyone else suffers this unfortunate experience.
He's not micro-chipped (yet) but he has (had) a collar and a tag. I held out on getting him chipped when I got him fixed a few months ago because we have a few different chips and different readers for those chips used in my area and I wanted to make sure I was getting the right chip put in for my area (instead of shooting him full of 4 different chips). This is what happens when you wait. (Same thing with Pet Insurance; I held off getting Michelangelo pet insurance and he ends up with diabetes at 6 months old. ohmygod_smile )
I spent the first day waiting to see if he'd return home on his own and knocking door-to-door, asking neighbors, and walking around calling for him and looking for him. I should have also used that first day for "busy work," i.e. calling around to various shelters and to the local police department (non-emergency number) who are often in charge of Animal Control. I didn't realize there were so many different numbers I would need to call to find out where he might have been taken depending on the area he was found in or if he was dropped off somewhere.
I discovered there are two "central sites" in my immediate area for processing. The one closest to my work is closed on Tuesdays and I didn't realize that when I went into work this morning. I was also surprised that it's common practice and half the places around here are closed on Tuesdays and some are even closed on Mondays (doesn't help that Henry went missing on a Sunday night).
On my lunch, I drove back home and stopped by the nearest (and most likely) humane society that Henry might have ended up. I'm extremely lucky in that where I live, they keep really good records and logs of all the animals they encounter, from injured (or worse) on the side of the road to being picked up or dropped off and they let me take a look at their intake logs (last update had been 15 minutes before I walked in the door). They were really sympathetic and said they'd keep an eye out for him and he'd be easy to spot because of his unique B/W coloring (i.e. only his chin is white). They said if he's not trapped somewhere (lots of people going on vacation right now because of school letting out), he was most likely taken in by someone, especially since he's under a year old and has such unique coloring. In that case, the fact that I'm offering a reward will increase the chances that whoever took him in might give him back for the reward. Most importantly, they also gave me a sheet filled with all the other places in all of my county where he might have ended up if someone turned him in. This saved me a bunch of time from having to dig this info up online (or even in a phone book...do those things still exist?).
There's another "central site" not in my area, but it's the biggest one in the county and is usually the place where people drop off animals (vs. them being picked up by Animal Control). They have a "found pets" page that they update every half hour. So, every half hour, I've been clicking "refresh" on my browser. It's too far for me to get there in person today (already used my lunch to check the other shelter), but I'm going to try and see if one of my friends might be able to stop by during the day for me either today or tomorrow and physically look for me.
I printed up a "Missing" flyer and have personally handed it out to my neighbors who are home and will be doing another door-to-door after 5 pm when more of them get home from work (and I am finished working). I've also been taping up the flyers around my area (didn't get as many up as I'd like before I had to get back to work, but it's a start). One of my friends is currently out putting up some flyers for me and is going to drop them off at some of the local businesses around here (i.e. our neighborhood Starbucks, 7-Eleven, Circle K, grocery store, etc...). I have my brother and another friend who have offered to help me tonight with the door-to-door.
I just really want my Henry-Bear back home because it's breaking my heart doubly to not only have him gone but also to see Michelangelo searching desperately for him and missing Henry so much that he's even willingly sitting next to me (normally, that's too close to a human for Michelangelo's comfort).
He's not micro-chipped (yet) but he has (had) a collar and a tag. I held out on getting him chipped when I got him fixed a few months ago because we have a few different chips and different readers for those chips used in my area and I wanted to make sure I was getting the right chip put in for my area (instead of shooting him full of 4 different chips). This is what happens when you wait. (Same thing with Pet Insurance; I held off getting Michelangelo pet insurance and he ends up with diabetes at 6 months old. ohmygod_smile )
I spent the first day waiting to see if he'd return home on his own and knocking door-to-door, asking neighbors, and walking around calling for him and looking for him. I should have also used that first day for "busy work," i.e. calling around to various shelters and to the local police department (non-emergency number) who are often in charge of Animal Control. I didn't realize there were so many different numbers I would need to call to find out where he might have been taken depending on the area he was found in or if he was dropped off somewhere.
I discovered there are two "central sites" in my immediate area for processing. The one closest to my work is closed on Tuesdays and I didn't realize that when I went into work this morning. I was also surprised that it's common practice and half the places around here are closed on Tuesdays and some are even closed on Mondays (doesn't help that Henry went missing on a Sunday night).
On my lunch, I drove back home and stopped by the nearest (and most likely) humane society that Henry might have ended up. I'm extremely lucky in that where I live, they keep really good records and logs of all the animals they encounter, from injured (or worse) on the side of the road to being picked up or dropped off and they let me take a look at their intake logs (last update had been 15 minutes before I walked in the door). They were really sympathetic and said they'd keep an eye out for him and he'd be easy to spot because of his unique B/W coloring (i.e. only his chin is white). They said if he's not trapped somewhere (lots of people going on vacation right now because of school letting out), he was most likely taken in by someone, especially since he's under a year old and has such unique coloring. In that case, the fact that I'm offering a reward will increase the chances that whoever took him in might give him back for the reward. Most importantly, they also gave me a sheet filled with all the other places in all of my county where he might have ended up if someone turned him in. This saved me a bunch of time from having to dig this info up online (or even in a phone book...do those things still exist?).
There's another "central site" not in my area, but it's the biggest one in the county and is usually the place where people drop off animals (vs. them being picked up by Animal Control). They have a "found pets" page that they update every half hour. So, every half hour, I've been clicking "refresh" on my browser. It's too far for me to get there in person today (already used my lunch to check the other shelter), but I'm going to try and see if one of my friends might be able to stop by during the day for me either today or tomorrow and physically look for me.
I printed up a "Missing" flyer and have personally handed it out to my neighbors who are home and will be doing another door-to-door after 5 pm when more of them get home from work (and I am finished working). I've also been taping up the flyers around my area (didn't get as many up as I'd like before I had to get back to work, but it's a start). One of my friends is currently out putting up some flyers for me and is going to drop them off at some of the local businesses around here (i.e. our neighborhood Starbucks, 7-Eleven, Circle K, grocery store, etc...). I have my brother and another friend who have offered to help me tonight with the door-to-door.
I just really want my Henry-Bear back home because it's breaking my heart doubly to not only have him gone but also to see Michelangelo searching desperately for him and missing Henry so much that he's even willingly sitting next to me (normally, that's too close to a human for Michelangelo's comfort).
I love to hear a good happy ending like this. 
