LOST YOUR PET?
Who do you call? Where do you start?
When your much loved pet goes on an adventure and strays from home, where should you start looking and who should you inform…?
First carry out a careful search of your property especially concentrating on locked cupboards within your house, garden sheds and favourite areas under bushes outside. Also look around local parks and beaches. If this reveals nothing go around to all your neighbours and let them know your pet is missing.
Then call all your local veterinary clinics letting them know your pet is missing, and leave a detailed description.
Next contact both your local council and the SPCA. This is a very important step – most animals that appear to be stray or lost will get taken to or collected by one of these organisations and usually if your pet is healthy it will be held and looked after for 7 days.
North Shore City Council website www.northshorecity.govt.nz, search “dogs” and there is a link on the right side of the page where you can report a lost dog or report a found dog. For all other missing pets – please telephone the council and leave your pet’s description and your details.
This brings me to another great point if you microchip your pet now, the chances of being reunited are so much higher. This is a simple procedure that can be done at your veterinary clinic during a normal 15 minute consultation. Microchipping isn’t just for dogs; cats are commonly microchipped also, almost all pets can now be microchipped and put on the New Zealand Companion Animal Register (NZCAR), www.animalregister.co.nz, there is also a third option, you can also register your pet's microchip number on the Australasian Animal Registry www.aar.org.au which is for dogs and cats in Australia and New Zealand – a great idea if you ever plan to move with your pets to Australia in the future.
There is a fantastic New Zealand website www.petsonthenet.co.nz where anyone can place a free advert about their missing pet, you can add photos too, and check all the found notices that have been posted matching your pet’s description – check daily! The SPCA and most veterinary clinics will use this website if they have found a lost pet.
Most of all stay positive and keep looking they will be somewhere.
Once you have your pet back home again, please remember to:
- Notify everyone who was helping you look for your pet.
- Make sure you have a good photograph of your pet for identification purposes.
- Keep your cat indoors for a suitable period if you have recently acquired them or moved house, once they have stopped hiding is the general rule.