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When a beloved companion animal strays from home, it can be a traumatic experience for both
the owner and the pet. The Humane Society of the United States offers these tips to help you should
you find a lost pet or if your pet should become lost:
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Contact local animal control shelters and animal control
agencies for reports of lost pets. If you have lost your pet you
should file a lost-pet report with every shelter within a sixty-mile radius of your home. If there is no shelter in your community, contact the local police department. provide these agencies with an accurate description and recent photograph of your pet. Notify the police if you believe that your pet may have been stolen.
Search the neighborhood. Walk or drive through you r neighborhood several times each day. (Early morning and evening are the best times to look for lost pets.) Ask neighbors, letter carriers, and delivery people if they have seen your pet. Hand out a recent photograph and an accurate written description of your pet.
If you have found a pet, ask neighbors if they recognize
the animal or if they know of someone who has lost their pet.
Advertise. Post signs of your lost pet at grocery stores, community centers, veterinary offices, traffic intersections, and other locations and place advertisements in newspapers and with radio stations.
Leave items with a familiar scent outside your home
to help guide your lost pet back home. A litter box, pet bed, or a sweatshirt recently worn by a loved one can attract a pet who has strayed and become disoriented.
Be wary of pet-recovery scams. When describing your pet, leave one identifying characteristic. When talking about your pet to strangers, offer no information, ask many questions, and carefully answer, and carefully answer questions posed to you. Be wary of people who insist that you wire them money in order for them to return your pet.
Don't give up your search - even when you have little hope left. Animals who have been lost for months have been reunited with their owners.
A pet (even an indoor pet) has a better chance of being returned if he/she always wears
a collar and ID tag with current information. Ask your local animal shelter and veterinarian if permanent methods of identification (such as tattoos and microchips) are available in your area.
For more information about responsible pet care, write to the Companion Animals Section, The HSUS, 2100 L St. NW, Washington, DC 20037.
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BJC Animal Control's Pet
Adoption Trailer
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What Does It Mean
to Spay or Neuter a Pet?
Male dogs and cats are "neutered" by removing
their testicles. Female dogs and cats are
"spayed" through a routine surgical operation to
remove their reproductive organs. The male or female pet
feels no pain or discomfort during the operation since the
veterinarian puts the animal to sleep with a general
anesthesia. Once the procedure is finished you can take
your pet home to rest with only a few stitches..
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Why Is It
Important to Spay or Neuter Your Pet?
The answer is simple. Every year their are about 30
million puppies and kittens born in the United States.
Unfortunately, 4 to 6 million of those adoptable animals are
euthanized every year because no one will give them a
good home. Many unwanted animals suffer terribly without
shelter, good food, and worst of all -- a loving human
companion. Nationwide, animal shelters report that they
take in over 10 MILLION animals every year -- far more than they
can possibly adopt out to good owners.
Did you know that
a single, unspayed female cat, her mate and all their offspring
can produce, on average, over 1.5 MILLION kittens in as little
as 9 years? The good news is that pet overpopulation is a
problem that YOU can do something about if you want to end this
tragedy. Talk to your vet about spaying and neutering your
pet. Prevent a litter and be a part of the solution to the
problem.
Spaying and
Neutering is Good for Your Pet
It is a fact that spayed and neutered pets live longer,
healthier lives. In fact, spaying and neutering can
eliminate or reduce the incidence of a number of health problems
that can be difficult to treat once they occur. Such
health problems include uterine or ovarian cancer, animal breast
cancer, testicular cancer, and prostate disease. Spaying a
female eliminates its heat cycle and thereby reduces nervous
behavior in the female.
It is very common
for the pet to become a more affectionate companion following
spaying or neutering. Bad behavior (such as biting,
fighting, or running away) and temperament problems are less
likely to occur.
Pet Population
Control is a Community Responsibility
Communities spend millions of tax dollars every year to control
unwanted animals. Animal control officers commonly have to
deal with irresponsible breeding which contributes to the
problem of dog bites and attacks on people and other
animals. Stray pets get into trash containers, defecate in
public areas or on private lawns, and frighten or anger people
who have no understanding of their misery or needs. Some
stray animals also scare away or kill birds and wildlife. A
responsible community teaches children the true meaning of
responsible pet ownership and love by making sure that all dog
and cat pets are sterilized to prevent the birth of more
homeless animals.
There is one more
thing that you can do as a concerned citizen in your
community: Adopt a homeless pet. Adoptable
pets at your local animal shelter make the best companions you
can ever imagine and will likely bring much joy to your life.
Click
here for a current listing of adoptable pets at BJC Animal
Control Services.
When Should a
Pet Be Spayed or Neutered?
Pets can become capable of reproduction as early as 6 months
of age. That is why pets should be spayed or neutered by
age 6 months. Sterilization can safely be done before that
age, as endorsed by the American Veterinary Medical
Association. The chief veterinarian of the Humane Society
of the United States recommends 4 months as ideal. Older
pets can safely be sterilized as well. It should be
emphasized that animal sterilization is a routine procedure and
does not cause the pet pain or stress. Most pets recover
from the procedure within a day.
For more
information about spaying and neutering pets you can visit the
Human Society of the U.S. at: http://www.hsus.org
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