Trinity Strong was devastated when her dog Porty jumped a fence and ran off on Christmas Eve. She said her son Desmond, 3, and her dog were very close, and she didn’t know how she was going to give him a happy Christmas without his beloved pet. -TRINITY STRONG / COURTESY PHOTO
Fireworks boomed in the sky on Christmas Eve, spooking a 10-year-old dog in Cape Coral and sparking her to leap over a fence and run off.
“I’m shocked,” said his owner Trinity Strong. “She has never jumped the fence before, but she’s getting old and fireworks have always terrified her. My son loves her so much and now he’s gonna wake up on Christmas to some very sad news. We’re not sure we’ll ever see her again.”
Strong began driving the dark streets of Cape Coral calling her beloved dog, Porty’s name and whistling. Finally, at 2 a.m. Christmas morning she returned home and posted on Facebook and Next Door about her lost dog. When she woke up later that morning, there were hundreds of posts. Dozens of people offered to help look for Porty. But best of all were comments from people that said she had been found and was at Lee County Domestic Animal Services. It was Christmas Day, and the shelter was closed, but once again social media helped. The mother of the animal control officer that brought Porty to the shelter saw the post on Facebook and got her in touch with officer Jacob Allen who was able to reunite the family with the dog the next day even though the shelter was still closed for the holidays.
Social media has been a huge help in reuniting pets. But more recently, so have Ring doorbells, drones and GPS tracking. Yet shelter officials say the very best way to make sure your lost pet is found it to have an updated microchip.
“A microchip is 100 percent the best way to reunite with a lost pet,” said Ariel Weinberger, public relations specialist, with Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control. “It is the first thing we check with every lost animal we bring in. But a lot of people don’t update it and if they don’t, then it doesn’t help. When they adopt a dog the owner has to update it themselves. If your address changes or phone number changes it has to be updated.”
This bright yellow sign is still up all along the northern end of Vanderbilt Drive. A man was walking a dog he had just gotten when he fell, and the dog ran off still attached to the leash. The dog is still missing. -ANDREA STETSON / FLORIDA WEEKLY
Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control has one of the most extensive pet lost and found websites in the state. The user-friendly site allows people to choose dogs or cats, lost or found. If a person loses their pet they simply post a photo and all the information on this site. Currently, their site lists 44 lost dogs and 67 lost cats. The site also shows 86 found dogs and 64 found cats.
“It is very successful,” Weinberger exclaimed. “People add to it very often. It is the best way for people if they lost their pets. Every animal that is reported, not just by the public. but every stray brought to the shelter is on that site.”
Ring doorbell cameras are one of the newest ways people are finding their pets.
“I have seen a lot of people have success reporting lost pets through ring cameras,” Weinberger continued. “Ring has something like Next Door. They can do it within a certain radius. People in the area can look to see if it is their pet on the camera.”
GPS trackers are also one of the newer ways people are keeping in contact with a lost pet. Experts say they work better than Air Tags.
“Air tags are meant more for tracking bags,” Weinberger explained.
Maranda Watt, of Lee County, who has been helping find lost pets for more than a decade agrees that Air tags are not reliable.
“The main reason is they hide in the woods and if your dog is hiding in the woods the air tag must be withing 33 feet of the Apple device,” Watt explained. “And if they are in the woods you are probably not within 33 feet of the tag. Ninety-nine percent of them do go into an area where you are not going to be within 33 feet of them.”
She also warns of the dangers of Air tags.
“If they chew if off, they will eat the battery and they can die,” she stressed.
Sue Law, the administrator of Lost Pet Finders of Collier County, agrees.
“People make the mistakes with the air tags. You have to be near Wi-Fi and 33 feet away,” she said. “A Fi GPS collar is better. It is a GPS that you put on their collar and you can watch on your phone. You need a subscription. But it is worth it.”
While Watt does not recommend Air tags, she does use new devices that help with her missions.
“If we have a trap set, we now use electronic devices on a remote to close the door,” she described. “And if the animal is not our target animal and gets in the trap, we can turn it off so they can get out without the door shutting.”
That makes it easier for them to monitor the traps from up to a mile away and remotely open or shut the door from that distance. Watt also recently started using drones to help locate missing pets. Watt got her drone license and a top of the line drone that has a powerful zoom lens and thermal sensors. Once the drone locates where a dog or cat are hiding, she can set out a trap and food stations to lure the missing pet.
Even with all the new technology, Watt said the best thing people can do is put up large waterproof signs.
“One thousand percent that is the best,” she stressed. “I reunited two dogs on Thanksgiving Day with signs. They still work. That does not go out of style.”
Law agrees that sometime the simplest things work best.
“The crazy thing is it all goes back to basics,” Law began. “There are new technologies, there are drones. But the basics are signs and scent trails and keeping everybody else away and the owner walking the area rather than driving around and calling their name. If they are walking the dog might be able to pick up their scent. The very best way to do it is signs. Starting at your mailbox and after that start moving down to the intersection, signs on your street and the street behind you.”
Lost pet sign, with photo and contact information. -ANDREA STETSON / FLORIDA WEEKLY
Law recommends keeping the signs simple.
“Lost dog, a picture and a phone number,” she recommends. “You don’t need anything else.
Tara Zajas, executive director of the Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County, also emphasis simplicity.
“Number one is to inform all your neighbors,” Zajas said. “Use your neighbors as quickly as possible to let them know the animal is missing. Social media is great now. Post a picture as fast as possible.”
Zajas said the Facebook page Lost/Found Pets of Charlotte County is a good place to start. She also suggests that people look on the Animal Welfare League website since all animals brought there will be listed on that site.
“If your pet goes missing, please reach out to Charlotte County Animal Control, the Animal Welfare League, and nearby shelters,” Zajas stated. “All animals picked up by Animal Control are transferred to the Animal Welfare League.”
Law said one of the biggest problems with capturing lost pets is that well-intentioned people often scare the animal away. She stresses that people need to refrain from chasing the dog or cat if they see it.
“I sat on the ground and opened up a chip bag and just started eating,” she described. “You just can’t get excited when you see them. Just stay calm. It is easy to say, but hard to do when it is your pet and you are panic-stricken.”
“Don’t yell their name,” Watt added. “Dogs are not going to run toward you when they are distressed. Calmly call the dog or have a conversation with the dog. Pretending to have a conversation, they will respond because it is not stressful.”
Law suggests thinking like the missing pet.
“You need to think about the emotions the dog is going through,” Law said. “It might take a day or two for a dog to settle down and start coming out. A really lost dog will settle near a water feature. Every lost dog will always stay close to water. The cat is hiding in the culvert. You have to think like an animal.”
RUNAWAY TRIGGERS
Certain things trigger a pet to run away. Fireworks are one of the biggest culprits. Experts advise making sure pets are extra secure during July 4 and New Year’s Eve. Having guests at the house is another reason pets escape. With more people going in and out of the house who are not familiar with keeping doors secure, it is easier for a pet to get out. People also need to be extra cautious with new pets that might be skittish in a new place.
Isabelle Wells runs a dog rescue called “Find a Home, Give a Home” from her Bonita Springs house. Many of the dogs she rescues are then placed in foster homes. In December, she put a small terrier mix in the home of a man at Vanderbilt Lakes. That evening, the man fell while walking the dog, and the pup ran off, still dragging its leash. Wells immediately put up bright yellow signs all along Vanderbilt Drive and posted on social media. The dog is still missing.
“He is really cute, but very skittish,” Wells began.
Dante was missing for five days before an expert in animal trapping was able to locate and trap the dog in Naples. -DEE VIGUE / COURTESY PHOTO
The signs and social media posts have led to reported sightings. People spotted him by Royal Scoop Ice Cream in Bonita Shores, in Audubon Country Club, by West Valley and East Valley Drive and more recently by McDonalds.
“He is one of those that moves a lot,” Wells described. “People are calling once in a while, but we can’t find the little guy. He is microchipped under my name. He has an orange collar and when he was lost he had a very thin blue leash. It is sad. He goes from one place to another.”
Dee Vigue had a similar situation. She runs a rescue called DC Dogos based in Tampa, and fostered a dog named Dante in Collier County near Livingston Road.
“The foster took him home and the following day he got out from their screen lanai,” Vigue described. “He just busted through and made a mad dash. He was in survival mode. Everything was just new to him. He was still in his feral state. A lot of people were out looking for him. It was so stressful. It took five days to finally capture him.”
Vigue said Sue Law helped in the rescue by using a variety of resources.
“People started seeing him show up on their security cameras,” Vigue said. “He started going into a vacant house that was under construction. Sue set up her trap there and two days later she finally caught him. It was a joint effort of reaching out to neighbors and asking them to check their cameras. This is our first time dealing with a lost dog. We are a nationwide rescue. We have dogs everywhere. We were just very fortunate to have a bunch of caring people down in Naples. It was really a joint effort with people wanting to help and care.”
Jean Fleet also has her dog back due to Sue Law’s help. She had just adopted Major from a Lee County rescue, 10 days earlier when her son accidentally opened the door too wide.
“He was very skittish and afraid,” Law related. “He ran like he was on fire and he was gone. I rescued this dog and I lost him, and I was heartbroken. I turned to social media and signs and everything. Sue Law, who I never met in my life, came to my home and put traps and live cameras.
Major was a very skittish pup that had only lived with Jean Fleet for 10 days before running off. It took 13 days for Major to be caught and returned home. -JEAN FLEET / COURTESY PHOTO
Major was a very skittish pup that had only lived with Jean Fleet for 10 days before running off. It took 13 days for Major to be caught and returned home. -JEAN FLEET / COURTESY PHOTO
But the dog didn’t stay near her home, so they continued searching through social media.
“We had sightings almost daily, but he wouldn’t come to anybody,” Fleet said. “On day 13 a lady called and said, ‘I think your dog is sleeping in a patio chair at night.’ So, she said we could put a trap on her porch. Sue put a rotisserie chicken in there and within three hours he was in the cage, and we picked up the cage and drove it back to my house. He is my sweet, sweet boy. I am forever grateful.”
Strong is also extremely grateful. She was astonished that an animal control officer would go to the shelter to get her dog during a holiday.
“We definitely got to see the good side of people during this experience,” she stated. “I would love to give credit to LCDAS because they get a bad rep. He (Allen) had it in his heart to help especially with the holidays. When she (Porty) realized it was us, the wiggle butt started. When she got home she did her Christmas presents right away and then she did not want to leave her space. I think it was a lot for her. I think she was in disbelief. We all have a lot of peace having her back.”