Creature Thoughts, March 2012

Keeping in touch with the animals…

…and the people who love them

The Lost and the Found

Lost animals. The situation generates a very unique, and often devastating, series of emotions. Both the pet and the owner are going through a form of grief that is even more intense than normal because of that “factor of the unknown”. The bereaved human has no idea if their pet is still alive, if he is suffering, if he is injured, trapped, has been killed by a car or predators…. Any person who has ever been missing a pet will tell you that the “not knowing” is the worst part of the experience. The animal, likewise, is frightened, confused, sometimes in pain, usually hungry and cold. In addition, most dogs and cats will eventually turn to feral instincts, that internal prerogative which literally will change their very nature. The need to survive takes over, often blurring their connection to home and human. Most lost animals, after a short while, will not even recognize their own owners when they see them. It often takes getting one’s hands on the animal for the recognition to kick in, and sometimes it takes even longer than that.

From an animal communicator’s point of view, the need to both embrace, and shield against, these emotions is imperative. This is one reason many communicators do not take on lost animals (also known as “location work”) cases. It is also why many who have done so in the past are sometimes forced to cease. In my own case, certain personal and health issues have complicated matters, and I normally only accept missing animal cases for animals I’ve already spoken to, or whose owners I know fairly well. When a communicator loses that ability to shield, not only can it affect her health, it often can block her from receiving helpful information from the pet.

In the past several months, however, I’ve been called on to help with an unusually large number (and yes, almost all have fallen within the above two criteria) of such situations. As a result of those cases, I’ve collected a number of helpful resources for people who are missing a pet. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to share those resources with you. Hopefully, you will never have to use them.

Animal Communicators

Penelope Smith, on her website http://www.animaltalk.net, has a directory of animal communicators. In that listing, most do indicate whether or not they accept lost pet cases.

Microchip Help

Many people now have their pets microchipped. Although it is still a somewhat controversial practice, there is no arguing that an active and well placed chip, combined with shelters and other rescue resources who employ scanners, has helped reunite many owners with their pets.

• Home Again (http://public.homeagain.com/) is for pets who have Home Again microchips inserted.
• The AKC’s Companion Animal Recovery allows you to register any pet, not just dogs, who are inserted with any brand of microchip: http://www.akccar.org/
• The AVID Microchip Company (http://www.avidid.com/lostpet.html) has a form where you can register a lost pet.

The first two do send out lost pet alerts. It is unclear whether the AVID company has this service, but if your pet has an AVID chip, they can still be registered with the AKCs service as well. In order to utilize the alert systems, of course, you must log in to your account and file a report if your pet is missing. (Be sure to update the record when he’s found, of course.) The AKC states on it site that it has no annual fees to remain a member.

Other Services

Findtoto.com (http://www.findtoto.com) is a lost pet registry that, for a reasonable fee, will call all listed phone numbers within a radius of where the pet was lost, and play a recording describing the pet and situation, and giving contact phone numbers. I hear of more and more happy ending stories through FindToto, and have been recommending them frequently. (If you need them in a hurry, and can’t locate this newsletter issue, there is a button to their site on the front page of gazehound.com, my own website.)

The Missing Pet Partnership is a wonderful resource site which includes a directory of pet detectives, people who are skilled in searching for missing animals. I recommend that people read through their site, which is extensive, and bookmark sections they think they may need some day. The detective directory is located at:

http://www.missingpetpartnership.org/petdetective-listing.php

While I hope you are never in a position to be searching for a missing pet, but if ever you are, or are trying to help a friend fine their furry family member, perhaps the above resources will be a help.

Newsy Stuff

Book Stuff: Wild Wings of Danger is now available in paperback form on Amazon.com and the STOLA Store.

Other Stuff:Be sure to follow me on either Facebook or Twitter, as it’s there I post last-minute changes to schedule. As we move into the holiday season, and life tends to interrupt life on a more frequent basis, that is usually the best place to keep track of when my availability changes.

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Gayle Nastasi (of Gazehound’s Animal Communication) is a professional animal communication consultant and writer, who hopes her connection to the animal world can serve as a way to help her fellow humans enrich their relationships with their animal companions. By better knowing our non-human friends, we ensure a kinder future for our world and we learn what it means to be a unique and essential part of all that is. Permission is given to forward this article to anyone you feel might enjoy it, as long as it is understood that copyrights are held by Gayle Nastasi, and the author’s name, and links to her website(s) are left intact. If this publication has been forwarded to you and you would like to subscribe to Gazehound’s free monthly e-newsletter, “Creature Thoughts”, just visit the newsletter link below.