By: Lauretta Williams
A pet is one of the greatest creatures a human being who adores animals could be blessed with. They are our friends, our comforts, and they bring a smile to your face after a rough day of life. That is why it is close to heartbreaking when your dog or cat goes missing. This can happen but there are ways to find them and bring them back to their comfy home. Just follow these steps and your best friends should be in your home, hopefully, in no time.
Stop Panicking and Start Moving
When you first notice that your pet is missing, and they are not in their usual hiding spots in and around the house, you will panic. This is a normal reaction to have and it is alright to feel worried. However, it is not alright to let panic take over your body to the point that you cannot move, let alone think. Panicking will not find your pet and working while you are in that state of mind will not be worth your time. Therefore, the very first thing you should do is to breathe. This will calm you down and clear your head so that you can go on to find your lost pet. It is possible to find your missing pet, so do not give up, but keep moving.
Let Everyone Know
The second thing you should do is to make a plan on how you are going to get everyone around you to know that your beloved pal is missing. There are a number of ways to do this such as showing people pictures of your pet, making flyers and handing them out in your neighborhood, and making posters with a picture of your dog or cat, a short description of them underneath as well as a phone number in case the pet may have been spotted. You can also take out an advert in the local newspaper or go onto forms about missing pets to spread the word there.
Check Animal Shelters and Vets
While you are essentially advertising that your pet is gone, stop by animal shelters and the local vets to see if they have seen your pet. You can also check with them if your pet was brought in by someone who had already found them. This can happen since people who find pets usually do not want to keep them, and they turn them in with the hopes that their owners (you) will pop in to check. If they are not there kept on with your search and pop in time to time, to see if your lost puppy or lost kitty was turned in.
Call Them
Once the posters, adverts, and flyers are out and nothing seems to have come from them, it is time to hit the streets but in a different way. This time you will be walking around and calling them by their names. Even if your pet is still in the training process they would be able to recognize your voice and react to it. Therefore, leave pauses in between yelling their names so that you can pick up any sounds that they could be making as a response.
It would be a wise idea to plan your route before you go out. Plan where you are going to go and divide the neighborhood into sections that you will cover. Once a section is done, make a note if you found anything or not. This way you will not be going over places that you have been before. Also remember to check garages, trash bins, alleyways etc.
Don’t Rush Them
If you so happen to spot them, let them come to you instead of rushing towards them. You may scare them away especially if they are not used to being outside. The outside world can be very overwhelming for animals and any sudden movements could be seen as a threat to them. Therefore, if you spot your fluffy friend then calmly repeat their name, with your one hand slowly moving out while you stay in one spot. Make sure that your tone is reassuring, and keep calling them until they come to you.
A Trap
If they do not come to you but you know where they are then you may want to consider setting a safe and friendly trap to get them home. The type of traps to use would be known by your vet or an animal shelter and you may ask them to set it up so that you know your pet will come into the trap but not get hurt by it.
A pet that goes missing can be a horrid thing to deal with but do not give up, and do not panic. The above steps can help you find your pet.
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