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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\u2019t know how she was going to give him a happy Christmas without his beloved pet. -TRINITY STRONG \/ COURTESY PHOTO<\/p>\n
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.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m shocked,\u201d said his owner Trinity Strong. \u201cShe has never jumped the fence before, but she\u2019s getting old and fireworks have always terrified her. My son loves her so much and now he\u2019s gonna wake up on Christmas to some very sad news. We\u2019re not sure we\u2019ll ever see her again.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Strong began driving the dark streets of Cape Coral calling her beloved dog, Porty\u2019s 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.\n<\/p>\n
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.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cA microchip is 100 percent the best way to reunite with a lost pet,\u201d said Ariel Weinberger, public relations specialist, with Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control. \u201cIt is the first thing we check with every lost animal we bring in. But a lot of people don\u2019t update it and if they don\u2019t, then it doesn\u2019t 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
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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<\/p>\n
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.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very successful,\u201d Weinberger exclaimed. \u201cPeople 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Ring doorbell cameras are one of the newest ways people are finding their pets.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI have seen a lot of people have success reporting lost pets through ring cameras,\u201d Weinberger continued. \u201cRing 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
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.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAir tags are meant more for tracking bags,\u201d Weinberger explained.\n<\/p>\n
Maranda Watt, of Lee County, who has been helping find lost pets for more than a decade agrees that Air tags are not reliable.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d Watt explained. \u201cAnd 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
She also warns of the dangers of Air tags.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they chew if off, they will eat the battery and they can die,\u201d she stressed.\n<\/p>\n
Sue Law, the administrator of Lost Pet Finders of Collier County, agrees.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople make the mistakes with the air tags. You have to be near Wi-Fi and 33 feet away,\u201d she said. \u201cA 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
While Watt does not recommend Air tags, she does use new devices that help with her missions.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we have a trap set, we now use electronic devices on a remote to close the door,\u201d she described.\u00a0 \u201cAnd 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0 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.\n<\/p>\n
Even with all the new technology, Watt said the best thing people can do is put up large waterproof signs.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thousand percent that is the best,\u201d she stressed. \u201cI reunited two dogs on Thanksgiving Day with signs. They still work. That does not go out of style.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Law agrees that sometime the simplest things work best.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crazy thing is it all goes back to basics,\u201d Law began. \u201cThere 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
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Lost pet sign, with photo and contact information. -ANDREA STETSON \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
Law recommends keeping the signs simple.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cLost dog, a picture and a phone number,\u201d she recommends. \u201cYou don\u2019t need anything else.\n<\/p>\n
Tara Zajas, executive director of the Animal Welfare League of Charlotte County, also emphasis simplicity.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cNumber one is to inform all your neighbors,\u201d Zajas said. \u201cUse 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
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.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIf your pet goes missing, please reach out to Charlotte County Animal Control, the Animal Welfare League, and nearby shelters,\u201d Zajas stated. \u201cAll animals picked up by Animal Control are transferred to the Animal Welfare League.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
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.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI sat on the ground and opened up a chip bag and just started eating,\u201d she described. \u201cYou just can\u2019t 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t yell their name,\u201d Watt added. \u201cDogs 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Law suggests thinking like the missing pet.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to think about the emotions the dog is going through,\u201d Law said. \u201cIt 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
RUNAWAY TRIGGERS<\/p>\n
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\u2019s 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.\n<\/p>\n
Isabelle Wells runs a dog rescue called \u201cFind a Home, Give a Home\u201d 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.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is really cute, but very skittish,\u201d Wells began.\n<\/p>\n
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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<\/p>\n
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.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is one of those that moves a lot,\u201d Wells described. \u201cPeople are calling once in a while, but we can\u2019t 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
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.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe foster took him home and the following day he got out from their screen lanai,\u201d Vigue described. \u201cHe 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Vigue said Sue Law helped in the rescue by using a variety of resources.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople started seeing him show up on their security cameras,\u201d Vigue said. \u201cHe 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.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Jean Fleet also has her dog back due to Sue Law\u2019s help. She had just adopted Major from a Lee County rescue, 10 days earlier when her son accidentally opened the door too wide.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was very skittish and afraid,\u201d Law related. \u201cHe ran like he was on fire and he was gone. \u00a0I 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.<\/p>\n
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