Puppy Needs New Home ASAP!--Finding owner first?

October 19, 2007

Dear Jamie and List,

It is wonderful and caring to rescue a homeless dog, but please, do check to see if there is a grieving owner out there first. The puppy may be underweight from being lost, as opposed to from being neglected, if he got out of his house by accident. You could check with the City's shelter, the SPCA and the neighborhood vet to see if anyone has posted a notice seeking the dog's return, and if there does not exist a missing dog notice, assume the puppy is available.

Best wishes Bonnie Knight, San FranciscoSee what's new at AOL.com and Make AOL Your Homepage.

October 20, 2007

Great post Bonnie!

Not assuming that Jamie did or did not go through any of these steps, before assuming a found animal has no guardian, I always:

First – go to a local shelter and have them scanned to see if they are microchipped. If so, Horray! this happened to me last week – the guardian was looked up on the computer, called and he came down in minutes to get his 2 dogs. I would think a vet might also have this service.

Make a flyer - To protect the animal, I don’t put a photograph on the flyer. There is always the possibility of someone saying the animal is theirs when it’s not and then the animal becoming a victim. If someone calls I ask them to describe them and give the animal’s name so I can see if they respond to it.

Go to the local shelters to post it in their “found” book and to check to see if someone put the animal in the shelter’s “lost” book.

Go to the place where the animal was found and post flyers.

I generally never give found animals over to the animal shelters because a sweet dog who I found (and would have found a home for) that I did give to our local shelter was deemed “unadoptable” by the shelter and was euthanized. I was very sad and regretted not keeping him.

A friend of mine took his two dogs (that I co-parented for 2 years) to our local santa cruz county animal services shelter and left them there thinking that they would be adopted. I found out on the 5th day and called the shelter. I was told that they were going to be put down that very day because they were “not adoptable” and “not good shelter dogs”. I knew both these dogs to be completely adoptable and wonderful. I picked them up from the shelter and kept one and adopted out the other. They are and were definitely adoptable.

I understand that the santa cruz county animal services shelters (watsonville & scotts valley) have particular standards the dogs must pass in order to adopt them out, perhaps there are liability issues or issues related to funding. I am not saying these things to suggest they are not doing a good job, only to inform people of my experience. I would guess that a shelter can be a very stressful place for a dog. Animals who are normally fine may become “unadopatable” according to the shelter’s standards because they are stressed, scared and confused.

Of course this would be different at a “no kill” shelter where they only accept animals they have deemed “adoptable” (which I believe the SF shelter is).

If anyone has any other advice to share regarding what to do upon finding a lost animal, I’d love to hear about it.

And don’t forget about the native animals too. There should be a native animal rescue hotline in your area you can call (and a place you can take them) if you find any urban wildlife in need of assistance.

~Cybrena

P.S. My experiences were specifically related to the santa cruz county animal services shelter, other shelters may have different standards, rules, etc.

Dear Jamie and List,

It is wonderful and caring to rescue a homeless dog, but please, do check to see if there is a grieving owner out there first. The puppy may be underweight from being lost, as opposed to from being neglected, if he got out of his house by accident. You could check with the City's shelter, the SPCA and the neighborhood vet to see if anyone has posted a notice seeking the dog's return, and if there does not exist a missing dog notice, assume the puppy is available.

Best wishes Bonnie Knight, San Francisco

October 24, 2007

I just wanted to clarify something re a comment Cybrena made in her excellent email about the steps to take if you find a lost animal.

Re the San Francisco shelter, she said: "Of course this [possibility of an animal being euthanized] would be different at a 'no kill' shelter where they only accept animals they have deemed 'adoptable' (which I believe the SF shelter is)."

If Cybrena is referring to the San Francisco city shelter, S.F. Animal Care and Control, sadly, it is NOT a no-kill shelter, nor is San Francisco a "no kill" city. Many people get ACC and the S.F. SPCA mixed up, or think they are the same.

Briefly, this is how the system works in SF:

1. The ACC (at 15th & Harrison Streets, a few blocks from the SPCA) must accept ALL animals that are brought in (no matter what kind -- dogs, cats, chickens, pigeons, etc.). Each animal is given an ID number, and is then held for five days to see if someone comes in to claim that animal. (If the animal is an "owner surrender", I believe they hold them only three days, but I could be wrong on that.)

If you want to follow up and/or make sure the animal will NOT be euthanized, you absolutely need to (1) get the ID number of the animal and (2) put a CIP ("Call Interested Party") on the animal. This means that you give the person at the front desk your name and phone numbers where you can be contacted on short notice. They put that info in the computer, and if the animal is going to be euthanized, you will be called and told that you will have to come down to the shelter SOON, pay a fee (I think it's a regular adoption fee) and take the animal out.

2. After the animal has been held for five (or 3) days, it is evaluated for medical issues and temperament. If it passes those tests and is deemed adoptable, Animal Care & Control may choose to put it up for adoption at the ACC itself; if not, cats and dogs are "offered" to the SPCA -- they are SUPPOSED to take all "adoptable" (no major behavior or health issues) cats and dogs. If the SPCA accepts a cat or dog to be put up for adoption there, the animal will be fairly safe unless it's there a long time. The SF/SPCA has long been considered a "no kill" shelter but apparently that is being reconsidered (new director), so it's not a bad idea to periodically check up on animals that go over to the SPCA.

3. If the animal is not deemed "adoptable" by ACC or SPCA, it will go on the euthanasia list. At that point the person who put the CIP on will be called. If that person does not respond, or if there is no CIP, sometimes the animals are offered to local rescue groups. If those groups can't help, then the animals are euthanized.

This issue comes up a lot: most people assume ACC and SPCA are one and the same, and that San Francisco is a "no kill" city, which is far from true, unfortunately. At least at S.F. ACC there is the possibility of a CIP, which gives the animal a chance at a "safety net." (Other shelters do not necessarily have this option -- so when an animal is surrendered, you have no way of getting info or getting it off the euth. list.)

Sorry to be so detailed on this, but I figure that the more info that rescue (and non-rescue) people have, the greater the chance that an animal will leave the shelter alive. Thanks, everyone.

Nadine May

October 25, 2007

Thanks for that clarification Nadine about SF animal shelters and their policies. I’d actually love to really understand the differences, I’ve heard that some are funding related - as in you have to abide by certain rules in order to get state or federal funding. If anyone knows of a document or resource for more info on this, I’d love to know about it.

In Santa Cruz where I live there are also assumptions and confusion over the different shelters here. The local shelter used to be called the SPCA, now its called Santa Cruz Animal Services. It used to be located in Santa Cruz but then it moved to Scotts Valley. So now as a Santa Cruz resident, you have to go to Scotts Valley (or Watsonville). The organization that is now called the SPCA has several programs including an adoption center but it’s not a shelter in the way people usually think of them – they don’t take in animals from the public.

About 10 years ago I found a pit bull puppy and since, at that time anyhow, the Santa Cruz shelter would not accept pit bulls I took it to a shelter in SF that did accept pit bulls, had a no kill policy and only accepted animals they deemed adoptable. They actually put the animal through their behavior test while you waited and let you know if they would accept them before you left. I don’t know which one it was though.

~Cybrena