Reuniting Pets and Family

Pet Reuniting

When pets are rescued, sometimes the owners can be found, or have left contact information other times it is a search. Whenever possible, a pet's family is tracked down and reunited with their pet. Rescuers are encouraged, when rescuing a pet from a house, to find anything that may give a clue to how to contact the owners. They look for phone numbers of relatives, friends and anyone else that may be able to find the owners. The address is noted and put with the documentation.

Those pets that the owners cannot be located are place in a shelter or foster care while attempts to reunify continue. Pets have their pictures taken and are placed on http://www.petharbor.com and http://disaster.petfinder.com. The biggest problem with this has been the ability to not only get the information entered into the sites databases, but keep the information updated as the pets move through the system and end up in foster homes and shelters around the country.

When an owner is found, the HSUS (1-800-Humane-1) help to reunite the owner with the pet by working with the owner to get their pet transported back to where ever the owner has ended up. One of the biggest problems  facing owners currently in temporary housing and shelters is the ability to have a pet at their new home.

With a system that was never designed to handle this many pets at one time so over tacked, pets have been lost in the system and delays in data entry have caused the pets information to remain out of date. All this at times has made it a heart wrenching experience for the owners and volunteers alike.

With so many pets struggling to find their families, there are those who do find their families. I had the honor of returning two pets with their families. Both pets were birds and both somewhat on my way home from New Orleans. While they were a little out of my way, they both were worth the extra mileage to know that these pets would be with family again. 

The First bird was Pretty Bird, a beautiful orange and yellow parakeet. I was one of the volunteers who originally rescued him. Since we were to locate and talk to his owner we were able to keep him safe at Pasado Safe Haven until I could transport him to relatives. He was ever so talkative, he loved music, especially music with a strong beet but he would gladly pause for a slice of apple. The last couple days in New Orleans, I transferred the bird to the home of a local volunteer as Pasado Safe Haven was winding down operations. The daughters the volunteer just loved this bird; they sat for hours singing with him and keeping him entertained. While his actual owner was in Washington, DC they were unable to take him as relatives they were staying with had cats that may not me such a good mate for the bird. As a result they made arrangements with other family members in Atlanta, GA where I was more then happy to deliver him to.

The second bird, Boysenberry, was a green and yellow parakeet. He had been rescued by Pasado Safe Haven who had been working to find away to deliver him home. As I was passing through Virginia on my way home, I felt it was worthwhile to take the 230 mile side trip to deliver him and volunteered. He was a quiet bird, loved looking at himself in the mirror. Once he became more comfortable with his surroundings, he began to sing more and more.   

Looking for your pet? Here are some links that may help:

PetFinder.com 

PetHarbor.com