How to Avoid Losing Your Pet - and What to Do if It Happens Anyway!

by Eleanor Chiquoine, Sauk County Humane Society

Few people want to lose their pet. When a pet is out of its usual routine and territory, it becomes easy prey for automobiles, other animals, and theft. When human pet owners must search for lost pets, they lose time at home and work. And - if the pet ends up at the Shelter - the owner must pay a redemption fee. Currently, those fees are:

• $28.49 for the first redemption, $15.82/day boarding, and the cost of any medical care;
• $55.92 for the second redemption, plus boarding and medical fees;
• $84.40 for the third redemption, plus boarding and medical fees; and
• $116.05 for the fourth redemption, plus boarding and medical fees.

• Keep good, accurate identification on your pets. Collars with i.d. tags should be everyday wear. Tattooing is an option. Micro-chipping is another way to identify your pets. If lost, most dogs are not like Lassie! They cannot magically tell people where they live.
• Take pictures of your pet, and keep them current. Have some in digital format.
• Make sure your fencing is good. Is it the appropriate height for your pet? Have a dog that digs? Is your fence buried to a depth adequate to discourage a canine re-enactment of "The Great Escape"?
• Train your dog well. If you take your dog out to the country for off-leash walks, will it come when called?
• Own cats? Consider keeping them inside all the time. Or if you want your cat to enjoy the great outdoors, consider building an enclosed "cat kennel" outside. Doing so will save the lives of many a bird, probably please your neighbors, and will guarantee that your cat stays home.
• Know what events scare your pet. Thunderstorms coming? Halloween on the way? Make sure your pet is restrained, for many pets run away when scared.

• Use those photos you took earlier! Make posters and distribute them in your neighborhood. Run an ad in the local paper. Offer a reward. Children LOVE a chance to find a missing pet and earn some money!
• Contact the Shelter in Baraboo at 356-2520. Send us those digital photos you took. Most important - come to the Shelter yourself, and come more than once. Often a lost pet doesn't end up at the Shelter for quite a while. And often the way you describe a pet is not the way the Shelter in-take staff might describe it. What you call a medium sized, brown and white lab-shepherd mix might be a large tan and brown collie-pointer mix to another.
• Once an animal arrives at the Shelter, it will be kept for 7 days. The Shelter does not have the funding to keep animals longer. After 7 days, the pet (if deemed adoptable) is offered up for adoption. Adoptions are final.