Help! I've lost my pet!

FIRST THINGS FIRST: CALL SPCA & AVA!!!

      WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT?
    "All pets taken in by the SPCA that are deemed to be 'lost' will be scanned for a microchip, advertised in the 'found' column, Straits Times Classifieds for two consecutive days and kept for one day after that, to enable the owner to come forward to claim their pet. SPCA's Lost and Found service is also advertised in the Lianhe Zaobao twice monthly requesting that people who have lost their pets to call the SPCA.
    If no one claims the pet, the SPCA will then consider it for adoption under our usual adoption criteria, which is based on health, temperament, age and availability of space. ... If the animal does not meet the adoption criteria it will be humanely euthanased."

File a lost animal report with a detailed description of your pet and its microchip number. If you can, go down personally with a few pictures and ask that they check their kennels.

AROUND YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD

  • Rally your family and friends and search the surrounding areas.
    • Put yourself in your pet's shoes: is he the sort who will hide somewhere? will he keep running? Ask neighbours, passers-by, void deck aunties and uncles, security guards, mamak-stall owners, domestic helpers, etc. for clues.
  • Make clear, readable posters with these details (or get a free poster at http://missing.sg/poster):
    • Photo of pet, showing front and side profile
    • When and where he was last seen
    • Age
    • Gender
    • Breed
    • Size
    • Colour
    • Distinct physical or character traits
    • Whether he's microchipped
    • Your contact details
  • Paste these posters near where he was lost, e.g.:
  • Knock on your neighbours' doors to hand out fliers and ask them to contact you if they see your dog.
  • Keep track of all the spots where you put up the posters and everyone you notified about your lost dog. Start a dated contact list of police stations, animal control officers, shelters, vets, humane societies, rescue groups, etc. Your list should include names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and other pertinent details.

POST ONLINE

  • E-mail your friends and ask them to forward your appeal
  • E-mail therehomers@gmail.com
  • Facebook
    • Upload a photo and ask everyone to share it. Remember to tweak your privacy settings on your photo album: Click on 'Edit Photos', 'Edit Info', 'Privacy': 'Everyone'. Include a phone number or e-mail address so that non-Facebook users can contact you. 
    • Post on fan pages, e.g.:
      You'll have to "like" these pages first before you can share your photos. Click on the "like" button at the top of the page, just below the search bar.
    • Bulletins and forums  Some of these may require approval from an administrator before you can post. To save time, ask if any of your friends who are already registered members can help. Include your email address or contact number in your post, instead of asking readers to 'PM me!' -- not everyone has a forum account and some forums don't allow new members to PM others. If there's an option to subscribe to the thread, do so, as you'll be notified by e-mail each time someone responds to your post.
    • Keep a record of all your online posts (URL, date posted, user name, password, etc.). You may want to bookmark the forum pages for easy reference: press Control-D on a PC, or Apple-D on a Mac.

MONITOR AND STAND BY

  • Check Straits Times Classified every day to see if anyone has placed a Found ad. You may also wish to place an ad in Straits Times Classified (1800 2899988, http://www.cats.com.sg/placeads.php)
  • Keep your phone with you all the time; make sure it has enough battery charge whenever you leave the house. You never know when that important phone call might come.
  • Check your spam box just in case some e-mails might be classified as junk.
  • Monitor the online forums for updates.

REJOICE AND REMOVE

  • Once you find your pet, go back to the list you made earlier and take down every single poster you've put up. Even if you don't find your pet, give yourself a cut-off date for removing them after some time.
  • Update your online posts with your good news.
  • Inform whoever you've asked to help with the search, so that they too can update their notice boards or websites to make room for other lost pets.


References:
 
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)