Don’t Distribute Posters of Lost Dogs
Posted on August 7, 2007
Filed Under Dogs, Pets | Leave a Comment
You should think twice before you start distributing posters of that lost dog you found! Why? Because some unscrupulous individuals must just falsely claim that the lost dog is theirs — then turn right around and sell it to an animal testing center.
If you tack up posters of a lost dog that you found, such individuals will call you, claiming that the dog is theirs, and simply describe the photo and/or any verbal descriptions you included on the flyer.
One woman wrote to syndicated columnist Heloise about such a lost dog scenario. She found a lost dog; it had a collar, but no tags. She took the dog to her vet for a microchip scan, but the dog didn’t have a microchip. No lost dogs were reported at the local humane society.
She then called the local no-kill shelter, as the lost dog was older; she reasoned that he might be less likely to be adopted due to his age. The wise workers at the no-kill shelter strongly advised her not to distribute posters of the lost dog to avoid attracting people who would sell it to an animal testing center.
The no-kill shelter workers also advised her to only give very general information about the lost dog, not specific details, so the rightful owner would have the info necessary. For example, you could say that a lost dog is a husky, but don’t say that it has one blue eye and one brown eye on your poster. The woman left general information with several veterinary clinics in the area, another helpful idea. And she kept the lost dog in the front yard so the rightful owners would recognize him if they were driving through the area looking for him.
Sure enough, she got a call five days later about the lost dog. The caller was frantic; it was her father’s dog, and she was caring for it while her parents were on vacation. She described the dog very specifically over the phone. And when the owner came to retrieve the dog, the woman who was smart enough not to post flyers received a thank you card and a big bouquet of flowers!
Strange Items in County Fair Lost and Found
Posted on July 26, 2007
Filed Under Lost and Found News | Leave a Comment
A walker. A film from a brain scan. A pair of dentures. It’s amazing what turns up in the San Diego County Fair Lost and Found!
Workers in Guest Services, which operates the lost and found, are downright perplexed about some items that show up. Take the walker, for example: How did the owner manage without it? And why would someone bring a brain scan film to the county fair? And surely the person who lost the dentures doesn’t enjoy gumming food!
But of course many items are typical of those found in any lost and found department: car keys, eyeglasses, wallets and purses. As a matter of fact, there are so many lost car keys and eyeglasses that workers in the lost and found department have assigned separate bins just for them. They have 66 sets of keys alone! Car keys, house keys, even a remote key for a BMW.
Some of the wallets and purses that show up in the lost and found have a large amount of money inside. Those items, as well as more valuable items such as wedding rings and iPods, are locked in a cabinet.
Lost and Found workers try their hardest to reunite owners with their lost items. They meticulously record each and every item in one of 10 log books, including the date the object was found plus a detailed description. But so much of what winds up in the lost and found is never claimed. After a specified period of time, unclaimed items are donated to charities.
Gail Tompkins, who’s been working in the Guest Services lost and found department for seven years, told the Union-Tribune that perhaps people “I think sometimes people don’t know where they lost it, or they just don’t think they’ll ever get it back.”
The San Diego County Fair Lost and Found department also has several boxes overflowing with lost sweatshirts, backpacks and shoes without mates. Gail told the Union-Tribune, “There’s a lot of babies running around in circles because they’ve only got one shoe!”
Gail has become a pro sleuth during her stint in the lost and found. Once a fanny pack was turned in, and it contained about 40 pieces of paper inside, inscribed with various names and phone numbers. Gail looked at each piece of paper until she found a name she could definitely trust: “Mom.” Needless to say, the fanny pack was successfully reunited with its owner.
But as for the dentures and brain scan film, well that’s still a mystery!
www.signonsandiego.com
Bloodhound Follows Nose to Lost Dog
Posted on July 25, 2007
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They say bloodhounds have the strongest sense of smell. And a trusty bloodhound named Lincoln proved that to be true when he helped find a lost dog named Bandit near Boothbay Harbor, Maine.
Bandit is a 16-year-old black lab who belongs to local Deputy Sheriff Bob McFetridge. Every morning, Bandit takes a stroll over to the neighbors’ house, Anne and Lee Perrigo, to take advantage of the dog treats they give him, as he’s been doing every morning for the past four years. But this time he didn’t return. Bob and his teenage daughters began to worry that Bandit was now a lost dog.
Their worries were confounded by the fact that their other dog and Bandit’s longtime companion, Shadow, a 13-year-old husky, had passed away two weeks prior. They were afraid Bandit might have wandered off and become a lost dog because he was missing Shadow.
So Bob called Boothbay Region Animal Control Officer Betsy Pratt to report his lost dog. Betsy organized a search party to locate Bandit. Her husband chipped in, as did the Perrigos, the last people to see Bandit as he walked off munching dog treats.
And Bob thought of someone else to add to the lost dog search party: Lincoln the floppy-eared bloodhound. Bob knew about Lincoln through colleague Kathy Williams, Lincoln’s owner who’s a police officer in nearby Wiscasset. Kathy has spent the past year getting Lincoln trained to become an official rescue dog.
Lincoln’s trainer Jean Conte has been preparing Lincoln for an AKC tracking degree. When it came time to search for the lost dog Bandit, Lincoln had only been working on warm trails, which are trails where the scent to follow has been laid very recently. He hadn’t spent much time working on cold trails, which are trails where the scent to follow has dissipated over time.
When the lost dog search party launched its mission, Bob rubbed a sock over Bandit’s sleeping area to give Lincoln a whiff. Lincoln then immediately took off for the Perrigo’s house–and he didn’t even know about the free treats they dole out!
From there, Lincoln led the party on a long excursion through mud and brush to search for the lost dog. Night fell, but Lincoln was determined to find Bandit. He led the party into a low swampy area filled with mud and briars, where they heard Bandit’s weak cries. Lincoln’s very first official mission was a success!
Members of the search party helped carry the lost dog back home. Bandit was exhausted, but safe and sound. And it wasn’t long before he was begging for food, one of his favorite pastimes. Along with stealing food off of people’s plates. Hence the name Bandit!
www.boothbayregister.maine.com
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