My Stray Dog Encounter and Yours!

as i'm leaving a client, about to drive out of the neighborhood, i spot a stray Russel Terrier (RT)... no human in sight!

i park my car, grab my spare leash and treats, and snap a photo to send to my client's pet parent in case she knew where the dog came from; she did not.

as i approached the dog, i see it's wearing a collar. the dog notices me, barks and walks away from me. good! i figure if we keep that up, the dog will get back to where it came from.

we get to the back of a fenced-in yard. the dog tried to dig itself under the fence, no luck. i hear another dog barking in the yard and there's also a dog barking in the yard behind us, in addition to the RT barking so it's a bit loud.

i crouch down and get close enough to see this dog's tags dangling from the collar. now i can address this dog by name, but that's the only luck i get. thankfully, a neighbor joins us and takes over, saying she knows this dog and his owners.

great, because i have to get to my next appointment!

so what could have gone differently?!

well, if the dog had kept wandering solo, who knows if it could have been hit by a car, captured by someone with bad intentions, or eventually too confused to find its way home.

in this scenario, i could see the dog's tag had his name on one side, but if the contact information was on the other side, it didn't matter because i couldn't see it.

this got me thinking of a client whose tag lays flat on the collar, and now i appreciate it so much more, and highly recommend it!

name, I'M LOST, contact number (redacted), MICROCHIPPED

the tag clearly shows the dog's name and a contact phone number, it can also state if the dog is microchipped, more on that later!

even if i can't get very close to the dog, i can snap a photo and zoom in to see the phone number, then contact the owner.

in the Russell Terrier scenario, the dog seemed to lead me back to their home, and i hope that with the neighbor's help it all ended well.

if you spot a dog without a human, what do you do?

in an ideal situation, you can see a contact phone number on the animal and get in touch with the owners, easy peasy!

most people post a stray dog sighting on a neighborhood Facebook group and move on.

a better option: call the police station closest to the sighting while keeping the dog in sight until an officer arrives. they can take over from there, sometimes able to capture the dog and bring them to their station, eliminating any harmful effects from being outside.

where i live, there have been multiple posts on the Folcroft Police Facebook page of a dog waiting to be picked up by its owner.

*if your pet gets loose, report it to the police. after a few hours, call your local shelter.

"but jes, why not just call Animal Control?!"

i emailed Delaware County Animal Control and they said that they focus on wildlife/pests, not domestic animals! #TheMoreYouKnow

they were kind enough to explain that Brandywine Valley SPCA is the resource for stray pets in Delaware County!

if you are in Philadelphia, contact ACCT.

Each of these organizations are in touch with trained Animal Protection Officers (APOs) to humanely capture the dog or cat and bring them to the organization where it can be scanned for a microchip and posted on their FOUND page to help families reconnect.

Have you had to call a shelter to find your pet? Share your experience in the comments!

So what's this microchip, and why should your pet have one?

The microchip is a fail-safe if a dog leaves home without their tags.

The process of inserting a microchip into a pet is simple: squeeze the skin, insert the needle, and out pops the chip under the skin.

The chip itself, which is the size of a grain of rice, just holds a serial number. 

That serial number must be registered with contact information of the pet parent.

When taken to a hospital or shelter, the staff can scan the dog for their microchip using a handheld device, they contact the company associated with that number, and that will lead to the owner being contacted. 

Make sure that contact information is accurate and properly connected to your dog’s chip!

Which company hosts your microchip info, and does it come with extra perks? Tell us in the comments!

While sighting a stray dog can be a shock, losing one's own pet is even scarier!

For tips on keeping your dog off a missing poster, check out my blog post:

 The Season of the Big Boom!

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I hope you see a good dog today!