pound.animal shelter

“Chaos” Reclaimed at Shelter Thanks to Tip From Facebook Follower

lost dog recovered held by child

“Chaos” reunited with his “big brother”

This sweet pooch shown here with his happy “big brother” had escaped the yard and been picked up and taken to Franklin County Dog Shelter in Columbus, OH. His family had posted his picture on the Pet FBI Ohio Facebook page. Fortunately, Nicole, one of our Facebook followers, spotted him at the shelter, remembered his post and alerted the family. A happy reunion ensued.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: Most lost pets are reunited through a shelter.
REALITY CHECK: Relatively few strays are reclaimed before being euthanized or adopted out to others.

According to a study done by the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) only 17-30% of dogs in shelters are ever reclaimed by their owners and only 2-5 % of cats. Why so few? Basically it’s a question of timing. At most shelters, dogs and especially cats can be held for only a limited time. If the pet’s family isn’t there at the critical time…. that pet will either be put down or adopted out. Most shelters do not post their intakes to a public database. Most owners cannot check the shelters as often as necessary and it is generally useless to just call or even send a flyer. You must go to a shelter in person and see for yourself. In a large urban shelter there may be hundreds of cats and / or dogs impounded at any time. Please encourage your local shelter to take advantage of the free, searchable database at petfbi.org.

Alert Animal Control Officer Uses Pet FBI Database and Avoids a Stay at the Pound

Lost dog recovered by Columbus animal control and Pet FBI database

Greta happily reunited with her family

Greta went missing in Columbus, OH, Pet FBI’s hometown. Since we have been active here since 1998, we are widely used and trusted, which leads to quick recoveries, especially since Franklin County  Animal Control often uses our database and Pet FBI Facebook Ohio page to look for matches.

Greta’s family posted on the Pet FBI database and within an hour of posting, a tip came in that she had traveled east and was spotted in a neighborhood known as Forest Park. Not long after that Animal Control Officer Mary heard a call that was dispatched to that area and provided Greta’s number to the officer that picked her up. Since Mary acted so quickly Greta avoided going to Franklin County Dog Shelter  and was dropped off directly at home!

We wish all animal control agencies and shelters would take advantage of our free, easy to use database so that more lost pets could be reunited quickly and efficiently.  If you are reading this, please contact your local shelter and ask them to visit petfbi.org to see how it can help them.