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What
should you do if you've found a lost dog?
 With
pet overpopulation at it's peak many shelters and rescues
are full to capacity. These animals need YOUR
help to be reunited with an owner or a new family that can
care for them. We will use a dog as an example here, but
these same steps apply to any companion animal.
1.
Contact your local animal control office, animal shelter,
and humane society as well as those in neighboring counties.
Give a detailed description of the dog as well as where
it was located. Be sure to give contact information so that
an owner can get in touch with you!
Athens-Clarke
County Animal Control
(706) 613-3540
Madison-Oglethorpe Animal Shelter
(706) 795-2868
Oconee County Animal Control
(706) 769-3956
Barrow County Animal Control
(770) 307-3012
Gwinnett Animal Welfare Services
(706) 339-3200
Morgan County Animal Control
(Madison)
(706) 752-1195
email: animalcontrolmc@aol.com
Walton County Animal Control
(770) 267-1322
2.
Keep the dog separate from other pets in your home until
a vet can verify that it carries no contagious illnesses
or parasites. Have the dog vaccinated for distemper, parvo-virus,
and rabies. Many vets will give a discount if you let them
know this is a stray. Also, ask your vet to scan the dog
for a microchip. Many pet owners use microchips from AVID
or HomeAgain in conjunction with ID tags.
3.
Provide food, water, and shelter just as you would your
own pet. Contain the dog in a safe, enclosed area to ensure
it won't get loose again.
4.
Place an ad in the local paper. Lost and Found ads are normally
free. Provide a description of the dog and your contact
info. Beware of people posing as owners in order to get
a "free" dog. You can also place a listing for
free at:
http://www.petfinder.com/post/classifiedhop.html
and http://www.lostdog.com/ and http://www.dogfind.com/
(Copy and paste)
Make flyers to post at the grocery store, the gas station,
the coffee shop, etc. Advertise the dog in a local adoption
magazine such as Critter, again remember lost and found
ads are FREE!
5.
Adopt him yourself! If you are still unable to locate an
owner perhaps you will consider adopting the dog yourself?
Be sure to have him altered right away to prevent overpopulation.
6.
Find the dog a new home. If you aren't able to keep the
dog and have had no luck locating an owner you may want
to try finding him a new home yourself. Using the same resources
above you can place an ad listing the dog as available for
adoption. Be sure to ask an adoption fee, at least enough
to cover the cost of vaccinations. Ask potential adopters
lots of questions! Remember, this dog you worked so hard
to save may end up on the street again if they aren't prepared
to care for it properly.
7.
Contact local rescue groups for help. Although many rescues
and shelters are full, they may be able to offer advice
or resources to help. It is important to understand that
resuce organizations are currently doing all they can to
help the homeless pet problem and most likely will be unable
to help. Below are phone numbers to several area rescues
and referral services, some of their webpage links can be
found when you click on the above right "Adoptables"
link:
The Dancing Dog Bowman GA
Athens Canine Rescue Athens
GA
(706) 549-4883
The Cat Coop Athens GA
(706) 543-0565
Athens Area Humane Society
Athens GA
(706) 353-CATS
Pup and Cat Co. Humane Society
Winder GA
(706) 867-1622
Rescued for a Better Life Winder
GA
(706) 838-4268
Humane Society of North Georgia
Carnesville GA
(706) 384-3688
N.E. Ga Canine Angels Rescue Referrals Inc. Dewy
Rose GA
(706) 213-9001
Helping Paws Rescue Athens GA
(706) 227-7887
This
Resources and Information on this page courtesy of Heather
at The Dancing Dog.
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