Losing a pet can be heart-wrenching for any animal owner, especially this time of year in New England, when the weather can be harsh and unpredictable.
According to the American Humane Society, some 10 million pets go missing across the United States every year.
Jennifer St. Peter has been volunteering with Missing Dogs Massachusetts since 2020. The nonprofit, founded in 2014, focuses on reuniting missing and found dogs with their families and provides a platform where the public can share their dog’s image and information.
Volunteers also work alongside animal control officers, police departments, other law enforcement, veterinarians and shelters in an effort to reunite the missing dog with its owners.
Just this past year, St. Peter was part of a team that managed to catch Gracie, a pit bull who’d been on the loose in Worcester for 555 days.
“I just remember screaming, ‘We’ve got her’ in the middle of the night,” she said. “It was a year and a half of going there every night, feeding her, watching her on the cameras, developing the plan to catch her. It was just, wow.”
The decade-old organization helps more than 1,000 missing dogs a year on average across Massachusetts.
“We always try and tell dog owners, Don’t go with your first instinct,” she said. “Most people, as soon as their dog goes missing, they want to go out and start searching, yelling the dog’s name, but that’s the exact opposite of what your first steps should be.”
St. Peter explained when a dog is missing or lost from their home, the animal will go into a type of survival mode.
“Most people think, ‘Oh, my dog knows me, my dog will recognize me,’ but in survival mode, that dog doesn’t know you, it doesn’t even know its own name, it’s just trying to survive,” she said.
St. Peter explained the organization sees two surges during the year for missing animals. The first is right around the July Fourth holiday, when fireworks and loud noises can scare pets into hiding.
“Right about now, we see another wave of dogs going missing,” she said. “With the holidays, many of us have company over and they may not shut the door, so the dog could take off. Or maybe the dog gets anxious because it doesn’t know or recognize everyone there.”
Another big factor, she said, is owners often go on vacation this time of year, leaving their animals in the care of others while away.
“It’s simple. If the dog gets scared and it’s with someone they don’t know, they’ll take off.”
Jean Trespanier of Webster and her family adopted Macy in April of last year. Within 30 minutes of arriving at her new home, the dog had bolted out the back door.
“I had to run an errand and 20 minutes later my fiancé had called in a panic,” Trespanier said, adding that all it took was a small opening in the porch door for the dog to make a run for it.
“I called Missing Dogs of Massachusetts right away, they came out and set up a trap and put out food,” she said, adding the agency also shared images of her dog and its last-known whereabouts on social media.
“Macy took off on Sunday and by Wednesday night, we were all watching her on the cameras as she would go halfway into the cage, then go out,” Trespanier said. “She did that for maybe 30 minutes and then we finally got her.”
Since Macy’s adventure, the family has fenced in their backyard and adopted another dog, a puppy named Archie.
If your dog takes off, St. Peter said, one of the first things you should do is get a scented item: something that smells like the dog or their favorite person — for example, a dirty T-shirt or dog blanket from a crate.
“Hang it outside,” she said. “Hang it from the porch, from a window, get that scent into the wind so the dog can pick it up. If it’s a nice day, we always suggest cooking outside to attract the dog. I mean, who doesn’t like a good bacon cheeseburger?”Next, she said, make a call to your local animal control officer or police department to report the missing animal. Owners can also fill out a lost dog form on the Missing Dogs Massachusetts website, so the organization can spread the word.
“Again, don’t go out searching, don’t run after the dog, don’t yell. Chances are it’s already scared and in survival mode,” she said. “Not all dogs are the same. What works for one might not work for another. So you just have to let the dog call the shots.”
“And when you see an owner reunited with their baby, their fur baby, they’re crying, you’re crying, it’s a lot of work, but it’s all worth it.”
Source link https://www.thegardnernews.com/story/news/local/2025/01/13/has-your-dog-gone-missing-heres-what-to-do-if-it-happens-to-you/77324480007/
