Lost Dog

Last week, I traveled back East to do the biennial family tour. Like many of you, I have a network of friends and responsible kids that I trade support with when traveling so that my pets get as close to the care I give them when I'm not there.

This year, Chocolate went to spend time with Lily, but Minnie and Doodah stayed home with Bumpers the fish and got daily visits from a good friend's daughter, who earned extra cash by keeping the cats happy in their own territory.

There's so much trust in this network that we can sometimes skip the details of what needs to be in place if an emergency strikes.


Kody

As it happens, my friend called to ask whether the cats needed to be fed before I got home Sunday night. I said yes, but also let her know that she'd see a new addition, Kody, a Havanese and a wonderful guy. His family was getting on a plane to Europe just hours before my plane landed, so we arranged to have him at the house so I'd be able to start caring for him as soon as I returned. With summer and busy lives, this isn't so unusual.

What no one expected was Kody's uneasiness in being in the house alone and then seeing my friend come in, someone he didn't know. He bolted out the front door and into a neighborhood that wasn't his own. I was about 30 seconds from having to shut my phone off when I got the call of Kody's escape. I told her to call the Humane Society and get their help. I also gave her a couple of friends phone numbers who I knew would drop everything and help get Kody back safely to the house. Then I had to turn my phone off and hope we got this great guy back quickly and safely.

We pet lovers are an amazing bunch, I can't tell you the depth of support and concern that everyone involved displayed. Folks out on late afternoon strolls helped to guide my friend down the streets they saw Kody run. Others joined in as they could. It was a limited, harrowing, but inspiring community effort to get Kody to safety.

But it wasn't enough. As soon as the plane landed, I heard the news: they'd lost track of him, and they had to give up as darkness came. I felt sick. I knew they had done everything they could, but there was a much loved dog somewhere who was scared, lost, and probably in pain as he ran for hours trying to find familiar territory.

Darkness or not, three of us took up the search and traveled the local streets until close to midnight. When we realized the combinatorics of streets he could travel was huge, we decided to wait until daybreak and go in separate cars. Just before 8am, my friend called - on a lark, she called the local police department (not 911, the local number), and learned Kody had been spotted by an officer shortly after 5pm, about an hour after he first left the house. He was now at the Humane Society, waiting to be picked up. I burst into tears of relief and joy. This wonderful guy was safe and uninjured and hadn't been out long. I felt very lucky.

My thoughts have been consumed with this experience. What did we do right, what could we have done differently? How could we affect change so that anyone who might find themselves in a similar situation would feel supported, guided, and given the right information and tools to act quickly and efficiently on a pet's behalf?

Here are some additional observations and learnings from this experience:

• I am a huge supporter of the Humane Society, but found their focus to be mainly on adoption, not lost pet support. As a contract service for my local county, they accept and shelter lost pets, but have limited capacity beyond that. Some examples:
• My friend called the Humane Society right away. She explained she wasn't the owner, but wanted and needed to know if Kody was brought to the shelter. She left her cell number. She was never called, and that's why we continued searching into the next morning.
• When we went to the Humane Society right after the call to the Police, there were numerous signs for pet adoption hours, but nothing specific for lost pets. I can tell you first hand that even a sign outlining their process would have been hugely comforting to me. Ideal would have been an after hours attendant available by phone to answer questions. Instead, we had to wait until their 11am opening time and follow signs to the Lost Animals desk and wait our turn in line.
• Training is hugely important here. Nerves are frayed and emotions high. The trainee at the desk told the man in front of me that his dog wasn't there because Animal Control was a different government entity. While that's true, pets under Animal Control supervision are housed at the Humane Society as part of their contracted services. He almost left when I let him know to wait to see his pet there.
• The same trainee looked at my form and told me I would not be able to take Kody with me because I wasn't the owner listed on his chip. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have been something that would upset me, because I knew I had the necessary paperwork to show I was his temporary custodian. However, with no sleep, worry, guilt, and fear, it cut through me like a knife. My friend had the presence of mind to jump in and suggest we identify Kody first, then deal with this issue later. That gave us time to find a more senior employee and show the letter that confirms my supervision of Kody while his pet parents are away.
• The police can be a huge asset in a situation like this. We know now to call them as soon as we call the Humane Society. Of course, it's by calling the 7-digit local number and not 911.
• Paperwork is critical. Kody's pet mom was detailed in listing my name, her name, her full itinerary, and even gave me Kody's backup paperwork for his microchip ID. If I didn't have this, it was unclear whether even a phone call to her in Paris would have enabled me to take him home yesterday morning.
• We were extremely lucky that Kody was picked up and taken to safety quickly. But I've had to wonder - what if this were to have extended for several days? We didn't have a picture of him to make lost pet posters. If he was found by a neighbor, they might decide it's best to keep him at their home until someone answers the number listed on his tag. That would have been a month away and precious time and energy would have been lost getting him back as quickly as possible.

As busy people with pets, we have a loose system of support that is tailor made for each family. While it may get us what we need most of the time, one instance like this shows how delicate it all is, and it seems like it might be a good time to explore new systems that bring a sense of safety and well being in times of emergency - knowing that the more eyes, hearts, and hands looking out for your pet, the happier everyone is in the end. They give us so much, it's so little for us to do for them in return.