The Lost Pet Recovery System

“There needs to be one integrated, central headquarters in a
community (run by an animal welfare nonprofit organization) that
safeguards lost pets and acts to return them home, safely.”
Program Summary
The Community Lost Pet Recovery Program will:
- Save animal lives by returning more lost animals to owners
- Not cost government taxpayers money but instead create a large pool
of funds that can use to lower the homeless animal problem
- Provide a central place in the community where people can turn who
have lost or who have found a pet animal
- Provide a means of tracking and increasing Rabies compliance to
insure public health
- Provide reduced rate, permanent, lifetime identification for animals
The Current Situation
More pets die each year as a result of being lost
than from all diseases combined. Thanks to medical advances, we can
protect pets from contagious disease, but we haven't had a truly safe and
permanent means of protecting pets in the event they are separated from
their owners. The sad truth is that 75% of lost pets that enter shelters
are never returned home.
There are many reasons a pet may become missing -- it may just want to
go exploring; it may escape during a fire or a natural disaster such as a
tornado or hurricane; it may panic from loud sounds; or if it is sexually
intact, it may dart out the front door or backyard gate to satisfy it's
reproductive urges.
Most pets that are found are not taken to
an animal control shelter because the animal will be euthanized. Often,
people finding lost pets remove them from the area where the pet became
missing and take them many miles away. Many are kept for periods of time
in an attempt to locate the owner. Most lost pets eventually end-up at an
animal control agency. They are kept for three to five days while attempts
are made at rehoming. If no one responds, the animal is euthanized.
In metro Atlanta animal control shelters, 73% of
impounded dogs and 70% of impounded cats are classified as strays
according to survey of shelters. That means that close to 3 out of 4
animals that enter those shelters are without identification. About 10% of
dogs and 2% of cats are reclaimed by their owners. On average, six out of
ten dogs and eight out of ten cats that enter an animal control shelter
will not go home. Due primarily to the overwhelming amount of unidentified
animals that are overwhelming the system, authorities find no other
alternative but to "euthanize."
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