LOST or MISSING ? What to Do

**See references and credits throughout this document and on the last page.

****ACT RAPIDLY****DO NOT WAIT TO SEE IF “ROVER” RETURNS ON HIS/HER OWN!!!

Dogs become frightened and disoriented when lost and, depending upon the breed, may travel FAR and FAST. for example can run more than 40 mph for great distances! Once away from their home turf, lost can develop a form of stress disorder and many CANNOT find their way home.

Also, dog thieves (known as "flippers") can grab a dog and have it in the next state — or across the country -- within hours. Read about flipping here http://business.time.com/2013/07/16/pet-flipping-is-now-a-thing/

FIRST: Is your dog microchipped? If he/she is then contact the chip company immediately to notify them that he/she is missing. Make sure your contact information is registered and up to date with the chip company. You do not want a bad guy to be able to change the chip information.

There is a lot of work to do so you will need the help of family, friends, and neighbors. Assemble a TEAM of as many helpful friends, family members & neighbors as you possibly can. DELEGATE, DELEGATE, DELEGATE: Have these friends begin to call in others to do tasks such as help search, to make, pick up, post, and hand out flyers, etc. Think about enlisting help from Community Service Clubs such as Elks, Church/Synagogue, Rotary, Girl/Boy Scouts, Equestrian Clubs or Teams (often at local Universities or horse boarding facilities). DRONE clubs are the newest “thing”. Many of these hobbyists have drones with infrared detectors which can spot a dog in a wide-open search area that would otherwise be difficult to reach.

Designate ONE person as the Co-Captain/Point of Contact, to help take pressure from you. That “Captain” should assign jobs to everyone, taken from the list below.

Reserve YOUR MOBILE PHONE, AND THAT OF ONE “BACKUP” PERSON, for 24/7 calls, Personal Messages, and text messages for Dog Recovery ONLY. Someone should always answer a call/PM within minutes.

At the place where your dog went missing, have someone leave a collection of some of “Rover’s” bedding, , water, shelter (wooden box or a dog crate), and smelly clothes

Rev 12/5/2018 Orig 3/20/2016 belonging to owner(s). You should also include a washcloth or fabric saturated with the owner's urine—really (!). You might even mix the urine with a little water in a spray bottle and spray in the area. “Rover” knows the owner’s scent so this will act as a “scent beacon” and safe place to help possibly keep “Rover” in the area or lure “Rover” back in. (One family did this at rescue’s suggestion and found the dog. The family credited the urine with helping to keep the dog in the area where he was found.) You can also put out highly scented food (such as minced hot dog, deli meat, rotisserie chicken, flavorful roast, etc.) but that may also attract other animals that may eat the food or scare off the missing dog.

Quickly review this link to get a general sense of what to do and what NOT to do: http://m.granitestatedogrecovery.com/Lost-Dog-Quick-Action-Plan.html

Also, check out Maddie’s Fund and read “What You Don’t Know About Lost Pets Can Hurt Them”: http://www.maddiesfund.org/Maddies_Institute/Articles/What_You_Dont_Know_About_L ost_Pets_Can_Hurt_Them.html.

According to Maddie’s Fund and Missing Pet Partnership, based on knowledge of the effects of "inattentional blindness" and the poor visibility of most lost pet signs, Missing Pet Partnership has discovered a creative and highly effective tool for recovering lost pets. When it comes to marketing a lost dog to people driving in cars who typically don't pay attention to signs, you have only five seconds using five words to get a message across to drivers who are traveling at 55 miles per hour. Most pet owners make the mistake of posting flyers (8 1/2" x 11" white pieces of paper) instead of posters. Flyers are too small and very few people passing by notice them. People notice neon posters. So, if possible make brightly colored posters. If you are unable to make poster then make brightly colored flyers and engage your volunteers to help distribute/post.

On the FLYERS: BE SURE THAT BOTH 24/7 PHONE NUMBERS ARE PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED AT THE TOP; AS WELL AS THE DATE/TIME OF LOSS, THE CITY AND STATE AND NEAREST ADDRESS OR INTERSECTION (or nearest major feature, if in a rural area). If a reward is offered, this should be at the TOP OF THE PAGE. Include a GOOD, RECENT, CLEAR photo of your pet (download a similar one from the internet if you don't have one). State the Breed/type, gender, whether spayed/neutered, whether microchipped, and whether wearing collar or tags (describe) at the time of loss.

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT DISCLOSE the microchip number, a description of the collar/harness/tags, or any identifying markings such as birthmarks, scars, special colorings or patterns on the coat. Retain this, along with other evidence of ownership (photos of you with your dog/family, microchip registration, veterinary records) and keep

Rev 12/5/2018 Orig 3/20/2016 this with you. In the event your pet is found but ownership is contested, this is the proof that you will need that "Rover" is in fact yours.

FLYERS SHOULD BE MADE UP OF WATERPROOF/WINDPROOF/TEAR-RESISTANT PAPER FOR POSTING (most commercial printers including Staples, Kinko's, etc. can do these). This special paper (rather than laminate) may be used to lower costs. Those to hand out should still be in color but need not be on the special paper. Plastic sheet protectors don’t work terribly well (as they allow moisture in and the ink on flyers to "bleed") but, if they are hung upside down, they can work in a pinch while better flyers are made.

When making your flyer put MISSING or LOST. If you think your dog was stolen it may not be advisable to put STOLEN as this may make people not want to get involved. If someone finds the dog they may not want to be accused of stealing it so may not contact you.

Unless otherwise advised by a professional, offering as large a REWARD as you can will motivate some people (who otherwise wouldn't care) to keep a lookout, and noting “no questions asked” may help to bring people forward. In the case of dog theft or "flipping" this may be your pet's only ticket home.

If in an area where Spanish is spoken frequently, add the following phrase to your flyer/ads: "Perro perdido, grande recompensa, sin hacer preguntas" (LOST dog large reward, no questions asked"). Adjust for other common languages regionally spoken, as appropriate.

Post flyers and hand them out to everyone including:

• Shelters • FedEx • convenience • veterinary clinics • propane delivery stores • animal control drivers • schools • rescue groups in • Trash/Recycle • pet stores the area drivers • feed stores • Police • Food delivery • grocery stores • Sheriff drivers • doggie day cares • Highway Patrol • truck stops • pet groomers • Fire • tow truck services • and anywhere • Postal Service • gas stations else you can think • UPS of.

You want “Rover’s” flyer to be everywhere so everyone can see it.

Go to LostMyDoggie, FindingRover, FidoFinder, and FindingLost Pets and register there. Those websites can make flyers and will have options to send out alerts to veterinary clinics and/or shelters, depending upon what you sign up for. Rev 12/5/2018 Orig 3/20/2016

If your personal Team cannot do hand out flyers, hire or recruit neighborhood volunteers to HAND-CIRCULATE flyers to every address within five miles of your residence; perhaps farther on rural roads. Leaving in mailboxes is against Federal Law (USPS); volunteers must hand-deliver or leave on doorstep/handle. Many isolated communities are still reliant on "paper communication" rather than social media or any other form.

Contact local media, including television, radio, and newspaper. If it is a slow news day they may want to use it as a “Special Interest” story.

Also, if the dog went missing in a rural or wooded area,look for people who may have game cameras or cameras. If you can, try to get to look at that footage to see if your dog passed by.

The kind folks at Connecticut Animal Recovery Group will make a poster FOR you FOR FREE if you cannot do so yourself: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CTAnimalRecoveryLLC/

Local Law Enforcement: If the purchase price of your dog was in excess of $1000.00, theft is a FELONY—Police/Sheriffs may be willing to take a police report and help you in any case. CALL AND ASK!!

SOCIAL MEDIA WORKS!! Spread the word quickly and efficiently in this way; others will share your post to all the right people and places. Consider creating a Facebook Page dedicated solely to "BRING ROVER HOME", rather than using your personal one. In any case: ***Facebook posts should look just like your flyers. Make them EASY TO READ Consider adding a trusted person or two to act as additional Page Administrators, so that messages can be read/responded to/ updates posted RAPIDLY.*** Make sure your post share setting is set to “Public” and share the post and/or page with all local friends, as well as to FB Pages for all types of agencies/groups as suggested in links here and on “Resources by State”. Also share on local media pages. ***Don't forget to include posts to Breed Rescue Groups, all local or National Breed Interest groups, kennel clubs, doggy social, or Missing Pet Groups such as FindToto, etc. Exceptionally helpful on FB are: Dogington Post (largest following) and ReLove Animals (Group most aware of Puppy Mills/theft rings). ***Monitor your PM Inbox(es) carefully and frequently. Folks with helpful suggestions might be reluctant to call with these, but may put them in comments or may message them to you instead of calling***

If your missing dog is a purebred , post the flyer on the following pages: Vizsla Lost and Found, Vizsla, Unleash the Vizsla, VizslaTalk, IHeartVizslas, and any area Vizsla groups such as Houston Vizslas or Denver Vizsla Meet Ups. Also post to your area’s Vizsla Rescue page (as found on www.vcaweb.org/rescue/contact.shtml). Make sure to message or call the Rescue Coordinator for the VCA Vizsla Rescue Group located nearest to you.

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Post your LOST flyer/notice on NextDoor.com for all areas adjoining your neighborhood/point of loss. Ask regional friends to do the same for their neighborhoods. Be sure that ALL local animal shelters know of your lost pet ASAP via FLYER and visit!! Ensure that you or someone close to you (who can accurately identify/is known to your pet) VISITS each shelter daily, if possible, or at least as often as possible. It’s truly vital that shelters be checked IN PERSON by you or by people who know your pet very well. Ask to see animals in the MEDICAL area also--not usually available for public view but where injured "strays" are located. Check all shelters within at least a 30-mile radius in person on a daily basis. Don’t just check online or via phone calls: even when shelters have conscientious staff, your pet may not be listed as you would think it would be described. It is common that breed/breed mix, color, weight, age, and even GENDER are listed incorrectly at shelters!! Remember that a pet on its own for even a few days may travel great distances, may appear dirty or thin, and may not look or behave as it normally does. If it is a Vizsla, they have been mis-identified as a Redbone , Lab mix, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Red Fox Lab, Chesapeake Bay , even a Red Nose Pit Bull. ** And while microchips have proven to be lifesavers, please don’t depend on shelter staff to scan for a microchip. Chips migrate and can sometimes be missed.

Let local Veterinarians know about your missing pet via FLYER. If possible, contact ALL Vets within a 2-4 hour driving distance; call and ask to speak to the vet and/or the office manager before PM-ing, mailing, emailing, or faxing your ‘lost’ poster. Ask them to keep a lookout over the next days/weeks. Remember that some PetSmarts and similar chains have Vet practices, so include them as well.

Area and regional Drivers and Pedestrians: Contact local trash and recycling companies, USPS/FedEx/UPS/other courier services offices, tow truck services, local and state Transportation Authorities, as well as Police/sheriffs, fire stations, and public and private schools to request that you be allowed to display your poster in their break rooms/on their FB pages. Hand them to area drivers if they can accept them. These folks may well be on infrequently traveled routes, during off hours—and kids are highly attuned to all that goes on around them (especially if a reward is involved!).

Run your own lost ad on Craigslist and monitor all ‘LOST’ ads on Craigslist and in every local newspaper – and keep running them; many local papers offer free ‘lost’ ads, but as with Craigslist, you will need to ‘renew’ it on a regular basis. LOOK AT Craigslist postings as far around the point of loss as you can for "For Sale" ads for dogs similar to yours (dog flipping). Rather than listing/looking for as "Lost Vizsla", in your ad list as and in other lost ads look for "Red Dog" “”, “”. Even look for Vizsla misspelled as Visla, Vizla, or other ways.

When out looking for the missing dog, scan areas as you drive or walk around. Look for him/her: • tied, caged, penned on properties

Rev 12/5/2018 Orig 3/20/2016 • in fenced yards • looking out of a house, garage, shed window or door • in a van/truck/car • walking with someone

If your dog was just release or just escaped, he/she might be out on his/her own.

It is important seachers do not scare away the dog. Remember, your dog’s personality may not be the same as when he/she were with you. He or she may be quite scared and may be in fight or flight mode. That means if you, or anyone else, sees him or her, don’t yell, chase, or try to catch your dog. A lot of times that will scare off even the most friendly dog. Ask them to take a picture, note the location and call or text you or your contact. If you see your dog, you will want to get small and non-threatening. Squat, sit, or even lay down and very softly or gently try to coax him or her to come to you. Use yummy, smelly food such as rotisserie chicken, hot dogs, or meaty treats; something really “high value” to entice him/her to you in a non-threatening way.

***Consider engaging a Lost Pet Recovery Service to rapidly help make posters, advertise your search, help deduce where your dog might be and possibly, to bring in a canine tracking team to find “Rover”***

Lost Pet Professionals (LPP) is an outstanding, expert, ethical, resourceful, & highly skilled organization with whom many of our Vizsla Rescue groups have collaborated on several Lost Dog Searches. ***Vizsla rescue is in no way affiliated, employed by, nor have any profitable interest in this business. If affordable for you, they can deploy their Search Dog Tracking Team to your location (cost varies by location & by whether they happen to have a Team already on-site in a nearby location or adjoining State). LPP also has a “Home by Phone” option where they consult with you via phone. At the least, LPP can create effective advertisement/flyers so you can have them made up rapidly ANYWHERE. They can also instruct your Team of family/friends/volunteers on where best to post them. Because of their experience (and given that their staff are Private Investigators licensed in multiple states), they can determine your dog's probable "path of travel" based on breed and personal characteristics and devise a GPS coordinate Search Grid. Should there be high likelihood that your dog was stolen, they also know their way around this "world". Karin TarQwyn, founder of LPP, has written a book “How to Find a Lost Dog: The Pet Owner’s Guide”. This book has action plans to help a lost dog’s family. If you do not hire LPP or another tracker, you might consider buying this book or another book to help you. This book and other books can be found on Amazon and other online booksellers. LPP’s 24/7 phone number is 888-569-5775 Website: http://m.k9pi.com (delete “m” if not on mobile device)

Rev 12/5/2018 Orig 3/20/2016 If located in Northeastern United States ONLY, consider Jaime Genereux, Pack Leader PetTrackers (tracking services only). http://www.packleaderpettrackers.com/PackLeaderPetTrackers.com/Home_Of_The_Pet _Tracking_K9s.html Mobile: (401) 787-7432

Is your dog a registered purebred, but not a Vizsla? AKC can help: http://www.akc.org/learn/dog-health/lost-dog-action-shelter-search/

Master List of Pet Search Resources BY STATE: http://chewonthis.maddiesfund.org/2015/04/master-list-of-facebook-pages-for-lost-and- found-pets/

Other Resources and Ideas: http://www.missingpetpartnership.org/ Above all, please keep your search efforts strong – don’t give up! Pets have been reunited with their families after many days, weeks, and even YEARS – keep searching, keep hoping, and ask LOTS of others for help in keeping the word out there!!! When found, please remember to remove your flyers, posts, and to notify and thank all of your helpers, Vets, Shelters, Rescue Groups, etc. If at all possible, it is thoughtful to post an "outcome" Flyer & follow-up story on all Facebook Groups, as you may have no idea how many eyes and ears and hearts have been “there”, somehow involved in your search, every step of the way.

Happy Ending stories:

Happy ending after Vizsla puppy stolen on West Coast, flipped in Midwest, and transported across the U.S. almost to Canada. http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/pets-and-animals/2015/01/03/penny-lost-vizsla- dog-home/21223603/

Missing Great Dane reunited with family after TWO YEARS due to microchip: https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1697629010526782&id=100008390979 441&from_close_friend=1

In late 2015 a Vizsla came into foster care in the northeast U.S. Meanwhile, a family in FL continued to post flyers about their Vizsla, lost three years earlier. The rescue saw a flyer and realized their foster, Daisy, was in fact, Birdie, lost from FL. Birdie and her family were reunited! See the story here… https://www.facebook.com/www.newhopevizslarescue.org/posts/update-daisybirdie-or- daisybird-as-we-are-calling-her-will-be-reunited-with-her-/1050937361638333/

In 2017, a Vizsla girl was lost in the midwest. A rescue volunteer stepped in to try and help. She advised the family to notify all veterinary clinics and shelters within a 50 mile

Rev 12/5/2018 Orig 3/20/2016 radius. The family did that and within two hours, a veterinary clinic 30 miles away notified the family that a person had brought in their dog. That person had been driving through the town and picked up the lost dog, then decided to just take her on to their own vet 30 miles away and have her checked for a microchip.

A Midwest Sheriff’s officer who loves animals would have his family notify him of missing dogs on Facebook. When he was not dispatched to a call, he would often drive around the county looking for missing pets. One evening in 2017 his family told him of a missing Pit puppy. After leaving a call on the other side of the county he found the missing Pit puppy. He was found about 18 miles from where he went missing.

There are many other stories like this if you Google or search on Facebook.

...... This information was developed by many friends and rescue colleagues. With profound gratitude and respect to those contributors, representing over 200 years of combined experienced in Vizsla and All-Breed Dog Rescue: Stacey Auer, Amy Balogh, Katharine Clark, Mimi Applegate Elder, Teila Gilchrist, Kat Harrington, Becky Hill, Kate Berta Kilgore, Marsha Lemley, Patti Marconi Hawk, Cindy McGee, Ann Prevost, Bren Reed, Staci Rivas, and Melody Starr. Many thanks to the Santa Barbara Vizsla Club (SBVC) for initially compiling this information in March 2016 to assist families in finding their missing dog. The original version can be found on the SBVC Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/notes/santa-barbara-vizsla-rescue/lost-dog-what-to-do/582644698557280. This updated version is available at www.coloradovizsla.org.

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