Found Dogs- What Do You Do?

[Steph M]

I am becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Facebook found pet culture I am noticing pop up.

So many people outright refuse to take the dog to the vet/pound because poor puppy will be cold/alone/get put down etc etc.

Personally as someone who uses Facebook a lot I would be fairly likely to see my dog posted as found, but my first port of call would still be our local vets and pounds. I worry though that people might not be part of lost/found pet groups, or might not even use Facebook.

I saw a pup a week or so ago that the finders had been holding for 2 weeks! I would be raging like the crazy dog lady I am if someone had my dog for that long.

I was just wondering what you do when you find an unidentified dog, is it just a select few who hold onto the dogs or is this actually becoming a big shift?

Also happy to add other options to poll if I've missed any. I suspect I have...

[mita]

We live near shops with interesting smells. So we've found quite a few lost dogs over the years. But good fortune, they've all had council registration tags. So we call the Brisbane City Council call centre (24 hrs service!). They ask do you mind holding the dog safely while they get the owner's contact details from the data base . And they ask do you mind if they give the owner our phone number to come get the dog. Have been happy to do that. Owners usually come pretty soon....longest was an hour.

One of the local vets used to be good... they'd notify the council &, if there was no ID to trace owner, they'd hold the dog for a couple of days while spreading word & looking for notices. After that, if no owner found, the pound would collect. But not so horrible now in Brisbane, as AWL Qld have taken over the 2 pounds. Dogs get superb chances from them.

It also helps here to get a dog you've found listed on the RSPCA Qld Lost & Found data base.... & also search it for possible owners looking. Some people still don't know that the council is the official information & management centre ... or are 'frightened' about pounds. There's a need for public education on this.

Edited July 21, 2015 by mita

[corrie]

I would be livid, too. There are plenty of people who don't use facebook so what hope would they have of being reunited with their dog. I would be happy to pay to get my dog out of the pound rather than having someone steal them or them being killed on the road. So many people are too lax about containing their dogs in the first place so the likelihood of getting a fine would act as a good deterent.

[Teebs]

I see it at work all the time. People coming in with their new dog for collars etc. I find out at some point the dog was found and they just kept it.

Makes me sick

[Steph M]

I see it at work all the time. People coming in with their new dog for collars etc. I find out at some point the dog was found and they just kept it.

Makes me sick

It is infuriating! I would be worried sick if one of mine wandered off and the prospect some dingbat has decided it's too cold in the pound for my dog so better they keep it would make me so very angry. I don't care how if they think they're doing the right thing, it sucks.

[RiverStar-Aura]

I understand the motives behind not wanting to take found dogs to a shelter etc, however, these people don't understand that they could quite possibly be making the finding process a lot harder for owners of missing pets. Many dogs are now microchipped so getting in contact with owners of strays is becoming far easier.

My dogs don't wear collars in my backyard so if they were to escape, I'd be completely reliant on someone having them scanned for a microchip. If they weren't taken to a vet/pound to be scanned I doubt I'd ever find them and I would be furious to find out of someone was holding them without having them scanned. I've even gone past having just local registration and they are listed on CAR (Central Animal Records). It's a national database and people can google my dogs' microchip numbers and they come up as being listed with CAR. CAR will then get in contact with me on the finder's behalf and let me know they've been found.

It's not a very effective service though if people don't take the time to have dogs scanned for a microchip.

[mita]

My tibbies are microchipped, have registration tags & ID tag with phone number on their collars. On the two occasions they got out ... tradesmen not closing gate (& no one knowing they were here) .... finders just rang the phone number & they were quickly back home.

They now have another tag on their collar. They were enrolled as Dogs on Patrol by the Stafford Police District (initiative of Neighbourhood Watch). They were given a tag with their name & phone number, in 'police' blue, with 'Qld Police Service initiative' engraved. Hope they never get lost again, but maybe the 'Police Service' on the tag might scare off anyone thinking of keeping them! :)

BTW The Qld Police Facebook page which loves puns, has this entry (with pic, chihuahua) from our local police station (yes, the council would've been notified).

It's been a ruff night in Ferny Grove, officers were led a-stray by this pooch found in Keperra. They're hoping you can paws to I.D. this K9 before it's tail takes a turn to the bow-wow-big-house! Any inquiries please call Ferny Grove Police on xxxxxxxx.

Edited July 21, 2015 by mita

[Guest donatella]

When I lost Bon I jumped on Facebook and called vets/pounds absolutely petrified I would never see her again because she is small and cute. So thankful they took her to a vet to be scanned and I got her back less then 2 hours of going missing!!! Big bunch of flowers and chocs went to them.

I tell the idiots on the buy/swap pages to TAKE THE DOG TO BE SCANNED when idiots post up a found dog

[Dame Aussie]

Dog goes to pound because that's where the owner will look for it and where they can access microchip details. Having worked in pounds I despair, people are idiots. How is someone who isn't on Facebook, or just doesn't see your post, going to find their dog in your back yard?? Makes me ragey.

if you don't take take dog to the pound you are stealing it. End of story.

[Better Late]

I have a spare cheapo collar and a shortened lunge line that I had left over from my horsey days that I keep in the car for these situations. The amount of roaming dogs in this city (Bendigo, Vic) is unbelievable with upwards of at least four a day. Thankfully people who find these dogs seem to be fairly responsible and always post on the appropriate pages - they've either taken the animal to the vet to be scanned, or they will in the morning as no clinics are open. Sometimes they've called the ranger as they cant get near the animal. I would do the same.

But if I found out someone had taken my girl in after finding her and not taken her to a clinic to find out who owned her, I would be absolutely f***ing ropeable. This dog is my life, she has dragged me out of a very dark place and is practically my reason for living. She has taught me so much and has ignited my passion for dog behaviour & training. But further to that she is fed a specific raw diet tailored to her because she is prone to being overly yeasty, dull coated and lethargic on commercial dog foods. I do not want her stuck in someones crappy yard on some crappy kibble, she is doing wonderfully right now. She is also dog and human reactive so good luck getting close to her in the first place, and she has a missing tooth and a snapped canine tooth from possibly being kicked in the head to stop her "bad behaviour" towards other dogs, so she needs careful management to almost a militant degree. She is improving in leaps and bounds but would 110% go downhill very quickly if left in the 'care' of someone who had no idea what they were doing.

[Chequeredblackdog]

If the dog has a tag on, I will ring that number. If no answer, I'd leave a message and take the dog to the vet/ pound.

Depending where the dog is found, I may ask near by houses if they own/ know the dog if the dog has no ID

I can't believe people that would just keep an animal after finding it with no attempt to find its owners. it's wrong! And stealing even if it is well intended.

[RedFeather]

I would always take a dog to a vet if I can't find a phone number on its tag. I like to assume it will be microchipped and a vets is a good start. Also, lots of pet owners come and go and someone might recognise it. My mother-in-law held on to a puppy overnight til the vets opened the next day, but that would be as long as I would hold it.

I've had this misfortune to find lost dogs whilst waiting for public transport. Those dogs always had tags so not such a big deal but once I couldn't get hold of the owner but had to get to work. I always still wonder and hope that that dog made his way home

[BarbedWire]

I would immediately take the dog to the vet to check for a microchip and then, if it did, try to contact the owner. Where I live the pound has a lost and found web page (as also does the RSPCA) and I would also notify them. I would hesitate to take a dog to the pound but if I did I would ask them to let me know if the owner does not come forward and I would then take the dog back home with me. I could not live with having taken a lost dog to the pound and it did not make it.

None of the options in the poll seem to fit my situation so I have not voted.

[Justrace]

Oh that drives me batty too. I will normally phone the council or take dogs to the vet if I find them.

BUT the last time that I did I had a heap of people telling me to cancel the ranger as they knew who the dog belonged to. This dog had been sighted the evening before running up a busy road, again that morning and was terrorising families trying to play at the park. I had no where safe to contain the dog, I didn't want to risk my dog by putting it in with her and I was not willing to hand the dog over to just anyone. By the time I saw all the messages saying to cancel the ranger, the dog had already picked the up. I was advised if the dog was chipped and registered the owners would be notified and the dog should be home that night.

In the meantime, despite knowing the ranger had the dog, the owners put up a post saying that their beloved dog was missing. It ended up with them getting really angry that they would now have to pay pound fees and fines. Loads of people were jumping on board getting really nasty, too bad that their dog was safe and not squashed or lying in a vet clinic. I've walked past their house a few times and that dog is not there, so much for a well loved family member, I don't even think they got it out of the pound. Sadly their other dog was out and trying desperately to get back in, trying to claw and dig through the fence in a panicked state. My neighbour went around to check and thankfully the must have come home & let it back in.

After that experience I doubt I would even bother putting up a post on facebook anymore, it's really put me off. Dammed if you do and dammed if you don't

[Steph M]

I could not live with having taken a lost dog to the pound and it did not make it.

See, I would absolutely put my name down as long as I was pretty confident we could hold the dog for a while or find a home for the dog, but if the dog is sick/not rehomable, I don't think I could take that on.

I feel like if you let your sick/anti-social dog wander and it's picked up/handed over to the pound that is totally on your head. I would rather it in the pound than hit by a car or just wandering.

[Flashsmum]

I always check for a tag with phone number, and call that first. Next stop is the local shelter/pound (RSPCA. So far, the ones I've found have bee reunited with their owners.

[LisaCC]

Check for tag/collar info first, then to a vet to scan for a chip. If no chip and contact info, the vet either takes them to the pound or I do. I'll post up on local pages a nice picture of it and where I found the dog and where it can be located. I've put my name down in the past as a back up option if no one comes to reclaim a certain dog. It was a lovely old Goldie, who would of fitted in well with our old lab.

Not everyone has Facebook, just keeping a dog is stealing.

Edited July 21, 2015 by LisaCC

[MadWoofter]

I've had a couple of cuties turn up on my doorstop in the last few years. One had a collar & number so I kept it overnight and kept trying to ring them, then rang the ranger the next day to collect them. The other one didn't have a collar or anything so I rang the ranger straight away. They were completely overwhelmed with incoming calls and asked if there was any way I could keep it overnight which wasn't a problem so I did and they picked it up the next day.

We've got a big pound that takes dogs from a number of council areas, so my theory is that it is the first place most owners will look before calling local vets / facebook etc. They also have the microchip facilities, and if, in the worst case scenario an owner isn't found, they're in the best place to be looked after & rehomed.

[Rebanne]

I would rather take a dog to the pound and risk it getting put down in a humane way then have it hit by a car and slink of to die a long painful death.

[Dory the Doted One]

I picked up an oldie just around the corner from home just the other week. Took him straight to the closest vet and he had a microchip, they attempted to call the numbers, one engaged the other not answering. So they decided they'd call the pound...except...and I don't normally do this...the street he lived on was again, right around the corner from home and I convinced them that it was senseless to go through all the rigmarole when I could hold him till after work. They wouldn't give me the details (fair enough), so I got the details through work got the numbers and rang. He was reunited in under 2 hours.

Usually I will take to a vet, and let things take their course from there. Unless there is a tag with numbers on it already, then I ring direct. I also post on Facebook Lost Pages.

I would be FUMING if I found someone had been holding my dogs in their yard...who knows what could happen to them? What crap they could feed them, let kids climb all over them, if they have a dog themselves...potential aggression situation. No thank you. I'd rather pay the pound fees thanks.

When ever you suggest this stuff on those pages you get howled down. When you tell them it is ILLEGAL to even pick up an uninjured animal and that you are suppose to call the Council, you get told you don't know what you're talking about.

I've had to almost prise animals off people who have brought them in to be scanned. One sticks in my mind, I seriously think if that dog had not been chipped they would have kept it for themselves. They were tempted to keep it anyone despite the chip.