Hopeful Henry: What to do when you find, or lose, a pet

With lots of snow we are getting lots of visitors to the slopes around the basin, and a lot of these visitors bring their dogs to enjoy the vacation with the family. Sadly some of these pups get lost which is extra stressful as they are not in a familiar location. We recently have had two visiting dogs who went missing for over a week, one was found, injured but is going to be okay, while the other was found but the extreme outside conditions got the better of his and sadly he passed the night he was found.

If you are visiting, take extra precautions to keep your dogs on leash, especially when getting ready to get out of the car, and make sure pup's collar and leash are securely on before opening the car door. A majority of dogs get lost when they bolt from a car when owners just open the door, figuring they're only going a few steps to hotel room thus not taking the proper precautions to leash.

If you find a pet and they have id tags call the number on the tag first, if you get no response, here are the next steps:

- If they have no tags call Eldorado Animal Services at 530-573-7925. They will pick up the found animal and take it to shelter until the owner is found. Keep in mind this will cost the owner some money to reclaim their pet.

- If you can hold on to the animal for a little while, and would like to try and find the owner, you can call the Lake Tahoe Humane Society office during business hours which are Mon-Fri 9am-5pm 530-542-2857. If after hours, call their 24/7 emergency number 530-577-4521, and they will assist you in trying to find owner.

To get the assistance of the Lake Tahoe Humane Society it is best if you can text a photo of the found pet with your contact information and the area where the pet was found. They will then post on their Facebook page which has a very good success rate. They will not post your private information on the Facebook post as a safety precaution and will act as the middle man when owner is found. Text info to their 24/7 emergency number 530-577-4521.

If you lose a pet, as soon as you realize your pet (cat or dog) is missing time is of the essence! Don’t wait! The sooner you report your pet missing the better your chances are of retrieving your pet.

Call Eldorado Animal Services at 530-573-7925 to report missing, then contact the Lake Tahoe Humane Society at their office if during business hours (mon-Fri 9-5) 530-542-2857 if after hours call their 24/7 emergency number 530-577-4521, also text to that number a photo of missing pet, where they were lost, when they were lost and a full disruption of animal including sex, age, size and if they are spayed or neutered.

Once the Lake Tahoe Humane Society has posted your found or missing pet on Facebook, please check that posting often as this community is great with responding. Once you have done all these steps place flyers around, sometimes pets wander fairly far away and someone may have picked up your pet. Also place something with your pets scent on it outside your house, the smell will help them find home. If you lose your dog on a trail or out in the wild, place a dog bed or blanket in the area last seen and check it often, many dogs have been found this way by owners who find them snuggled up the blanket they put out.

Lastly please make sure your pets have collars with current ID tags with current contact information and check that the tags are legible.

Hoping this information helps with our community’s lost pets.
- Hopeful Henry

It’s time again to submit your furry family member’s photos to the Lake Tahoe Humane Society’s Calendar/Card photo contest. Just go to their website www.LakeTahoeHUmaneSociety.org and click on the photo contest link, fill out form & Submit your pic. It a fun way to support our Lake Tahoe Humane Society and help them help local animals in need.

You can submit your questions or letters via e-mail to AskHenry@LakeTahoeHumaneSociety.org or by mail to P.O. Box PET South Lake Tahoe CA 96158. The Lake Tahoe Humane Society and S.P.C.A. now has a FaceBook page so stop by and check it out at www.FaceBook.com/LakeTahoeHumaneSocietySPCA you can also become a FaceBook friend of HopefulHenry at www.Facebook.com/Hopeful.Henry or follow us on Twitter @LtHumaneSociety.