Small animal retrieval

[Moon]

If a small animal friend of yours has gone missing, the first thing to do is to
start phoning people who hire out the services of themselves and tracking
dogs. If the missing individual is a cat, they’ll swear up and down that allowing the dog to track a cat would “ruin” him. Horsepuckey! Refer them to Kat Albrecht’s work, to lostapet.net &/or to me—just insist. If you absolutely can’t
talk anyone into it, get a friend with a dog to sniff the missing cat’s bed, and
then try to get across to him the idea of following that scent outdoors. That’s
the hard way, but you must get a dog on the scent now—before it rains!

[Moon]

I just spoke with the only animal communicator i know of who has actually enabled someone to find a lost small animal. She says she relayed to the human the lost cat's description of the area she was in and that the cat often saw a womon with white hair; the human drove around where she'd last seen the cat, found a neighborhood that matched the description, knocked on doors 'til she got the white-haired womon's address, described the cat to her, found out she'd been feeding the lost cat & several other strays and picked the cat up at the next feeding time. Her name is Barrie, email [email protected], phone 707-570-1740.

If a small animal friend of yours has gone missing...

[Moon]

If a small animal friend of yours has gone missing, the first thing to do is to
start phoning people who hire out the services of themselves and tracking
dogs. If the missing individual is a cat, they’ll swear up and down that allowing the dog to track a cat would “ruin” him. Horsepuckey! Refer them to Kat Albrecht’s work, to lostapet.net &/or to me—just insist. If you absolutely can’t
talk anyone into it, get a friend with a dog to sniff the missing cat’s bed, and
then try to get across to him the idea of following that scent outdoors. That’s
the hard way, but you must get a dog on the scent now—before it rains!

The URL is lostapet.org.
What necessitates urgency isn't rain--it's the criss-crossing of the scent trail with other animals' (or vehicles') scents.

[Shandi]

The URL is lostapet.org.
What necessitates urgency isn't rain--it's the criss-crossing of the scent trail with other animals' (or vehicles') scents.

I don't know the statistical results on this method, but most people can't afford to hire someone.
But if they can, this could be helpful.

My first actions would be to:

1. Put some food nearby, and also scatter some of the cat's poop around the perimeter of the yard,
and leave the soiled cat box outside, preferably where you might be able to see it.

2. Call the shelters, then visit them with your DETAILED flyer with colored picture. "The name of
the cat is not as important as the picture. Those flyers with no picture make it even more difficult
for others to help. Flyers with picture can be posted around the neighborhood, and people always
look at the pictures, if nothing else. Ask yourself "What do I do when I see a poster with a picture
of a lost animal?" Other people do much the same thing......

The most important details on a flyer are: Large Picture, special things/markings about the cat,
when lost, how? where? Reward

I recently saw a flyer posted in 49er Pet store, and this is what it said:

Cat found. Please call to identify. That was it! That person may have received a ton of calls,
or not very many. That's a poor example of a flyer.

3. Notify your neighbors and the mail carrier. You may want to give the mail carrier a flyer, along your
neighbors.

4. Go out after dark with a flashlight, and food. Call for your kitty with your "special" sounds whether
it's the name or baby talk. If kitty is near, this will bring her to you. Go around the neighborhood.
Do this every night. My kitty always comes to the sound of the "treat" bag. If yours does too, bring
this with you.

5. I realized that my kitty was also trained to the sound of my keys. Because I always fed her when I got
home, so whenever she hears keys, she comes running, thinking it's time to eat. Other kitties have
trained themselves to the sound of the spoon or fork on the food dish. These things can really help.
So, if I didn't see her right away, all I had to do was jingle the keys, or tap on the bowl.

6. As I mentioned before, whenever you go to the shelters, ask to see all the cages, not just the stray
cages. As time goes on, the chances increase that your kitty may be in the infirmary, or in adoptions.
I've seen many strays that were obviously owned, but no one came for them, and they got moved to
adoptions, and may lanquish there for even a year or so. Caring so much, and not doing these steps
decrease your chances.

7. Don't rely on the the shelter websites. These are staffed by volunteers, and are not up to date as you
would think. I turned a cat in, and kept looking for her picture on the website. Even after 3 weeks, it
wasn't there. I found out that because she was scared, she was considered "unadoptable", which I
can understand. Most kitties come out of that phase, but some don't even after a few weeks. No one
wants a scared kitty who just hides all the time.

8. I turned in another stray cat, who was afraid, and wouldn't come out of the cage. After a month, I was
called, and told she was "unadoptable", and that she would be euthanized, or I could pick her up. I
did that, and although she hid for the first few days, after awhile, she began to trust me, and now we
have a great bond, and I'm glad that I saved her. She has brought me countless hours of joy.

Be diligent in your search, and that will increase your chances of your beloved coming home.

[Moon]

My first actions would be to:

These are good pieces of advice. I'd add just a couple of things--and keep in mind that if you can't recall how to find this dialogue if you ever need it, this information is at lostapet.org, too.
I'd put articles of unlaundered clothing and bedding near the house, to draw the animal to my scent, which says Safety to her/him.

"Cat found. Please call to identify. That was it! That person may have received a ton of calls,
or not very many. That's a poor example of a flyer."

The reason people don't show or describe the animal is to keep cruel people from seeing a picture of an attractive animal, thinking "I'd like that one," and claiming him/her.


"Don't rely on the the shelter websites. These are staffed by volunteers, and are not up to date as you
would think. I turned a cat in, and kept looking for her picture on the website. Even after 3 weeks, it
wasn't there. I found out that because she was scared, she was considered "unadoptable", which I
can understand. Most kitties come out of that phase, but some don't even after a few weeks. No one
wants a scared kitty who just hides all the time."

For the same reason, fewer and fewer shelters are putting found animals pictures on their sites; they've sent animals home with a claimant, only to have the someone else come in the next day and prove with veterinary records that s/he is the animal's real friend.


Also, do go the shelter in person; staff can't be counted on to tell you accurately whether the animal you're describing is there, and i've met a womon whose dog friend was euthanized when she'd been told repeatedly he wasn't there.

[Shandi]

In response to your answer that some people don't describe an animal they found, because of
FEAR that someone will take the animal, I'm wondering if you suggest this as the
best way to advertise if you find a pet.

I think there are ways to describe an animal, without giving too many details, and
have the caller provide the rest. But it would mean giving some thought to the
face that there are people who might want to take an animal that isn't theirs.

I also think that many animals will show with their action if this is truly their
owner, unless they're extremely friendly to anyone who comes along, which in
some cases they are. The finder would know this.....

I don't know how often this happens, but if people are looking for stray animals,
they can find them almost any day. That would mean that the shelter wouldn't
be getting so many. But I really have no information on this kind of activity,
although I know it's done.

Example: gray tabby found in Cotati (rather than "cat"
German shepherd and ? (mixed) (rather than large dog)
Doberman with long ears
Persian (no color) (rather than long haired cat)
Siamese (no color) (rather than noisy cat)

Even when we post flyers with pictures of lost animals, predators who are looking
for animals could use this information to search, for their own purposes. How
can we prevent this?

I believe that if we let FEAR dictate our actions, in any situation that's not
actually fearful, (although I know that's a matter of perspective) we can set
up what we actually fear. "The things you fear will come to you".

But this is only my opinion. It would be great to know how others feel about
this way of advertising a found animal. And who actually does it this way.