Lost Dogs

What to do if your dog is lost or stolen

1. Inform local police, dog wardens, rescue centres, local papers, dog clubs, dog trainers etc. Not just for the area the dog was lost in, but surrounding areas as well.

2. If a pedigree dog, let your breed rescues, breed clubs and breeders know as well. Most breeds have a close network and will rally round to help.

3. Put posters up everywhere, local dog walking areas, shops, vets etc.

4. Get details on as many websites as possible, all across the country.

5. Email everyone in your address books... and ask them to do the same. You'll be surprised how quickly information travels across the net!

The more people that know the better your chances of having your dog returned to you safely and quickly. You can never have too much publicity!

Below are some useful links to get you started

Dog Lost

Dog Pages

Dog Theft Action

National Dog Wardens Association

Vet List

Keeping Your Dogs Safe

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but prevention is better than cure as they say!

Please be very careful with your dogs. Never leave your dogs unattended outside shops, or in an unlocked car. Even for a second. It doesn't take opportunistic thieves long to take advantage of a situation.

And please remember it is a legal requirement for your dogs to wear a collar with an identity tag with your name and address on it in a public place, this includes inside your car! Ideally, you should also have a telephone number on there as well.

It is also advisable to have your dogs microchipped. Most dog thieves these days have scanners, and will quickly dump a dog that is microchipped as they'll be unable to sell them on. Hopefully then the dog will be picked up by a caring passer-by and will be reunited with it's owner. Please make sure if you move or change your phone number that the database is updated so that PetLog can contact you!

If you would like your dogs or cats microchipped and live fairly locally to me, I am a qualified microchipper. Or if you are involved with any dog clubs, I am always happy to do a session at the club or at shows at a reduced rate.

Click here for more information on Microchipping

Fundraising

Val Tiller is organising a raffle at Crufts 2008 to help raise money for Dog Lost. Here is the email she sent me.

I'm sure you all remember Tyson the Border Collie, who was stolen along with Ross Green's car, at the beginning of December. Well, Ross has asked me to help raise funds for Doglost, the charity who were so marvellous, helping him get Tyson back. Now Ross has asked me to help raise some much needed funds for Doglost, which is run by Jane Hayes, to whom I spoke on the 'phone yesterday. She started Doglost when her own dog was stolen from her garden 4 years ago. She moved Heaven and earth to get him back, which she did, 6 weeks later and Doglost was born from what she had done to rescue him. It's been her fulltime work since and she relies solely on donations, as the organisation makes no money - it's all FREE for anyone who has lost their dog! This amazing woman has sold her house to keep Doglost afloat! She now has 24 volunteer Co-ordinators and 20,000 Helpers throughout the UK, but her goal is to have a Helper in every road on the map.

I can't imagine anything worse than losing my precious Collies, so I joined ages ago. Please help me raise some much needed cash for Doglost. If you're coming to Crufts, please bring me a raffle prize! I'm sure you all got something for Christmas that you can spare? If so, please let me have it - Crufts isn't until 9th March, or you could give it to someone you know who's going, to bring to me. Ross has certainly promised a prize and my friend Diane Whiting is going to help me sell the raffle tickets. I hope I get some more volunteers to do that too, on the day, so that I'll actually have time to show my dogs! :-)

Please feel free to forward this mail to anyone you know who might help make this fundraiser a success. The raffle I ran at Crufts last year, for the TNS Fund, raised £450.00 It would be great to match that.

And if you do nothing else today, please log on to www.Doglost.co.uk and join if you're not a member. It's FREE and you'll be e-mailed details of dogs that have gone missing, only in your area, of course.

Val
Foxbarton Border Collies
www.Foxbarton.com

For more information, click here to email Val