We've found a dog, what's the best course of action?

Question

We found a large yellow dog running the streets near our house in the country. We THINK he may be a hunting dog gone missing, but has been out for at least a week judging by his scrawneyness. He's a well cared for dog, as far as we can tell. Neutered, dental, flea treatment (so it seems.) What we need to know is the best way to get him home.

Do hunters even much care when they lose a dog?

What should we do? Shelter is out, except for checking on reports. Keeping the dog is not out of the question.

Collar, no tags. Forgot about the chip and will have to try that, though I doubt it will bear fruit. To the locals a micro-chip is what remains in the bottom of the bag of Lay's (maybe not, but in all seriousness, i doubt there will be one there.)

I'll be starting to make some flyers tomorrow, and I'll call the shelter, but the dog is as good as ours at this point. out in the country, dogs are property, not pets/family.

Bad news. I heard gunshots this morning, and I don't know that I meantioned he resembles a deer from a distance. I haven't seen him.

Tried to keep him in the yard last night, but he jumped the fence. I'm gonna take Boo around the block in a bit and see if we find him, but I'm not sure at all we will.

Answer 1

Take it to the vet; quite a few pets these days have chips under their skin. The vet can scan it to check, if so the owners will be contacted and you'll be a hero! If not, then an add in the paper about the lost dog or even post signs in your area. If no one responds, then you have a new doggie! If you don't want a doggie please take him to a safe NO KILL facility.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I recommend calling the humane society and your local shelter and asking them if anyone has reported a dog like that missing. Feed it well and make sure its safe and comfortable while in your care. I believe you can leave a photo and number at the humane society so that if the owners go there, they can see the picture and contact you. It would also be helpful to signs up in areas near where you found it and where you think it may have come from. Hopefully it wasn't a hunting dog, you can see how hunters care for animals by the way they treat them. And shooting an animal for fun isn't exactly nice.

Answer 3

Some dogs now have those chips embedded in their skin that gives the owners info and all. A vet can scan the dog for that. Otherwise, put an add in the local newspaper under lost and found. It might be free. Do you have an old fashioned home town radio station that still makes little announcements. You could ask them to mention the dog you found. Hunters love their dogs. They've put a lot of time, money and effort into training them. Otherwise, just keep it and give it a good home because if not for you it could just as well have been run over, poisoned, shot, you name it.

Answer 4

Had a similar situation a few months back... here's what we did:

1. Put up flyers in a minimum of a 5 mile radius of where you found the dog. More if you can, but the average "got loose" dog can stray at least 5 miles from home, for larger dogs, it can be more.

2. Put found ads up everywhere they will allow it. Pet Supply stores, local vets, grocery stores, etc... Also extend your radius there if you can too. Don't offer a description tho. You don't want people who don't actually own the dog to attempt to claim it if possible. Instead, just have it say "Dog Found" with your number and that they must describe it properly over the phone, including color of collar etc...

3. Check with the local paper. Most will run free found ads. If you have more than one paper in the area, use all that you can.

4. Call the shelters and vets to let them know you have found a dog. Give a description so they can refer anyone who may be looking for their lost pet.

5. Go to the vet to have the dog scanned for a microchip. With any luck, he will have one and the owner will be easy to locate.

6. Be prepared for the idea that no one wanted this dog and just dropped him off hoping someone would take him in. Contact rescues in your area to see if they can offer you any advice in placing this dog with a good family if it comes to this.

When we found a stray, one local rescue was great and sent me a questionaire to ask potential families who may want to adopt. In the end, our little stray never had an owner come forward unfortunately. But my brother and his wife decided she was the sweetest dog and they took her in. She's extremely gentle and gets along great with their very young children.

Answer 5

You need to contact vets and shelters in the area and let them know you found the dog. I assume he doesn't have a collar...? Can you catch him? He needs food, water and shelter. If you really want to find his owner, put up signs around town.

If a month goes by with no takers, then you can start thinking about keeping the dog.

Be warned about shelters, though. Some of them won't ALLOW you to keep the dog while looking for the owner, in some places it's illegal. So if you seriously want to keep this dog, call anonymously and ask about the policy first.

Good luck -- and thank you for helping the poor dog!

Answer 6

I would put an add in the paper, lost and found section that you found a dog and your general location, see if anyone is missing thier dog and looking for it. You can also call the animal shelter and ask if there has been anyone looking for a missing dog and maybe take a picture of the dog and give it to them, tell them you will keep the dog til someone picks it up.

Answer 7

It is always bitter sweet when you find a lost dog. You fall in love with it but you know you will have to eventually give it back to it's owner. I would care for the dog for as long as I had too. Get the word out that you found a large yellow dog and eventually the owner might catch wind of it and contact you.

Answer 8

You should put up posters around the town asking if someone has lost thier dog leaving your contact number. You should also take care of the dog while you are waiting for a reply, to besure it is safe. If no owner is found then you could keep it or you could give it to someone that will look after it and provide care for it.

Answer 9

First check if it's friendly, then check for any regertration tags. If there are some, phone the number and tell them about thier dog. If he/she doesn't have tags, put up signs saying that you've found a dog and put a disscription or a photo. You can also put a sign up on your house saying you've found a dog in case someone comes past looking for their pet.

Answer 10

You should call animal pound and tell them to keep a look out for anyone who comes looking for a lost pet. Also, putting up posters of the dogs picture and a description would help. thats all you can do for now. in the meantime,keep it at your house, feed it well, give it a place to sleep, and im sure the owner will be thankful to you. good luck!