Lost and Found: Pawing it forward to keep pets safe | News

When pets are family members there’s nothing worse or more sickening than when they slip out the door before they can be grabbed or they escape their yard and then they’re gone.

Will they ever get back?

Give them a better chance to get home by registering them for free with FidoAlert, an organization that signals neighbors who are also members to be on the lookout for them. It’s a kind of Amber Alert but for pets.

“FidoAlert should be the first thing people do in terms of when (their pets) go missing,” FidoAlert’s Kate de Luca said. “Then you have a community of people who got a digital lost (alert) via text. It’s not an app. It’s not a push notification that you can disable. It’s a text so while you and all your family and friends are looking, so is your community.”

Lost pets are most often reported on July 5 but any time when there are fireworks or loud noises can be alarming for pets. The statistics about getting them back, especially cats, are indeed gloomy.

“Once a cat enters a shelter 96% of them are never returned,” de Luca said.

If they are chipped, however, there’s a much better chance of getting them back. Dogs with proper ID (tags and microchips) are 2 1/2 times more likely to be returned to their owner. For cats, it’s 20 times more likely. Fidoalert.com adds that extra layer of returnability. In fact, de Luca said a lost-pet owner should make fidoalert.com their first call.

The service works like this. During registration pet owners submit emergency contacts and a photo. Pet owners receive one free collar tag stamped with a QR code and ID information. If a member pet gets lost, the pet’s information is broadcast to all other members within a few mile-radius of where the pet was last seen.

de Luca said to reduce the risk of losing a pet take a few simple steps. First, check the gate and fence around a pet’s home to be sure the pet cannot wriggle under it. Check the gate to be sure it is securely latched each time it’s opened because as every pet owner knows, pets can be escape artists as good as Houdini ever was.

Second, make sure all guests know to secure all entrances behind them.

“Remind them,” de Luca said. “They might not even know. ‘Oh, my gosh, I didn’t even know you had a cat.’”

During a party or just an unusually noisy time, give pets a quiet place to go such as a closed bedroom or closet. Stock the space with those items that comfort them, such as their favorite stuffy or toy. This is especially relevant during times when there’s likely to be fireworks or lots of strangers in the house such as during a party.

de Luca is a believer in taking this extra step.

“People say, ‘I don’t need FidoAlert because my dogs are microchipped,’ or ‘My cat is microchipped,’ or ‘They never run away,’” she said. “That might be true but it never hurts to have a belt with suspenders.”

People like their GPS collars but those run out of batteries.

“That’s the duty of FidoAlert,” she added. “It works no matter where you go.”

For information or to register your pet, visit fidoalert.com. The service and the first tag is free.