Additional reporting by Mary Ann Barton.
It's a pet owner's worst nightmare: Getting a phone call from a pet sitter saying your 12-year-old dog was gone.
My husband and I left Chloe, our hound mix, with a friend in Arlington the night before we were leaving on a family trip to the West Coast.
When the sitter opened the door for a pizza delivery, Chloe bolted — a combination of separation anxiety from us and being in an unknown home prompted her to flee.
We spent hours looking for her that night in the cold, wet rain. We made flyers and spent hours looking again the next day.
From Oregon — yes, we went on that trip — we coordinated a massive search operation. Within 24 hours, we had several neighbors, staff from Chloe's dog daycare, friends, volunteers from Homeward Trails Animal Rescue, officers from Alexandria and Arlington Animal Control and others helping. We posted to Facebook, Craigslist and emailed everyone we knew within a 5 mile radius. We called vets, shelters, more vets....
Chloe turned up in a woman's garage about half a mile from the pet sitter's home — the property owner had seen posted flyers, recognized Chloe and called Arlington Animal Control. After nine days, Chloe was dirty, tired and hungry, but she was home and safe. We loved her for another four years before she died at age 16 this winter.
Not every family has a happy ending. A lost dog named Echo has been missing in the Alexandria area since the summer of 2016. Periodically, news stories appear of dogs missing for years who turn up hundreds of miles from where their owners last saw them.
If your dog bolts from your home or someone else's, the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria and other local pet organizations offer these suggestions:
Be Sure to Report Lost Pets Immediately
Call the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria at (703) 746-4774 or the Fairfax County Animal Shelter at (703) 830-1100 to report your pet as missing. Staff will take a description of your pet, check it against a list of stray animals at the shelter and enter your animal into their system.
Lost animals arrive throughout the day and their description may not exactly match yours—so be sure to provide as much detail as possible.
Have a Flyer Made in Advance
It may sound like excessive preparation, but if you have a ready-to-go flyer for your missing pet, you won't have to stop looking for your pet to make a flyer, print it out and make copies. The faster you can get flyers (with a photo, description and phone number) out there, the more people will know about your missing pet. Consider posting flyers in plastic sleeves (with the opening down) to prevent rain from rendering your flyer useless.
Post to social media, Craigslist and neighborhood email lists with copies of those flyers as soon as possible.
Look in your pet's common hiding places:
Many pets tend to hide in the same places or have favorite or familiar spots they tend to go. This list can help you think of where those places may be:
- Appliances (clothes dryer, washing machine, refrigerator, etc.)
- Attic and crawl spaces
- Boxes and large containers
- Cabinets (including file cabinets)
- Drain pipes and gutters
- Drawers, shelves, bookcases
- Roof
- Sheds and barns
- Trees and bushes
- Vehicles (including up in the engine during cold weather, for cats)
Walk the Neighborhood
Go door-to-door where your pet was last seen, talking to everyone — someone may be able to point you in the right direction.
- Carry the flyer of your pet with your phone number to leave with residents or on their door (for your safety, don't include your full name or your address).
- Bring a powerful flashlight. Even in daylight, you may be looking in dark spaces such as garages, under porches and crawl spaces. If your pet is injured, they may hide and be too frightened to respond to your voice.
- Frequently call to your pet. They can hear you from impressive distances. Stop often and listen for your pet’s reply.
- Bring your pet’s favorite squeaky toy and use it. Take a box of your pet’s favorite treats and rattle it loudly while calling his name, too.
Your pet’s sense of smell can help him find his way. Outside your home, place familiar, strongly-scented items such as:
- A pair of your old gym socks or shirt.
- Your pet’s bedding and/or favorite toys.
- Foods such as tuna, sardines or other savory meat, plus regular pet food and water.
Outside Your Neighborhood
While most dogs stay relatively close to where they left, some dogs go on incredible journeys. In addition, not all dogs run away from their own home. If your dog ran away from a pet sitter or while you're traveling, here are tips:
- Call and visit shelters in the area. Found animals are not always taken to the shelter closest to where they were found. Most shelters are required to hold stray animals for a period of time, but not forever, so shelters right away.
- Call local veterinary offices/emergency clinics, and visit the office if they have an animal that sounds even remotely like your pet.
- Register your lost pet with Pets911: www.Pets911.com or 1-888-PETS911
- Register your lost pet with Petfinder: www.petfinder.com
- Check the “Lost and Found” section on Craig’s List: www.craigslist.com. The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria posts all of our stray animals there during their stray period.
- Run a “lost pet” notice in community publications. Search the “found” section of these publications as well.
- Check with your local and state Department of Transportation (DOT). Both local and state DOTs can help you determine if they have picked up the body of your pet. In the City of Alexandria, these animals are picked up by animal control officers and brought to the shelter to try to match them with descriptions of lost animals.
If an animal shelter has your pet, you'll need to bring proof of ownership to bring him or her home. That may include vet records in your name with your pet's description, photos of your pet over time, microchip records, or adoption papers.
Bring the following items to the shelter with you:
- Collar and leash for dogs, or a and collar and carrier for cats and other animals.
- ID tag if your pet isn't wearing one.
- Cash or credit card to pay any applicable fees.
- If animal control picked up your pet, there may an impound fee for the first time your pet has been picked up. This fine increases with subsequent impounds.
- Additional fees may be charged for vaccinations and care given to each animal upon their arrival at the shelter, including emergency care if your pet is injured.
