A boy and his dog...inseparable. Except when he leaves for the evening and someone else leaves the gate to the yard open. This prompted a call to his mom at 12:30 am all the way over in California and social media blitzes internationally (I'm not kidding!). "Mom! Starr is gone!" We got that dog when he was a boy of 8 and he and that dog have been best friends for almost 17 years. This was a catastrophic nightmare for all of us and for our extended family and friends as well who love her as their own.
So what is a mother to do when she is this far away? Well, first I called the microchip company (1-888-HOMEAGAIN) and ensured that our information was up-to-date. Secondly, I purchased a package from them for a mere $17 that would send an email notification to all of the vets, Home Again subscribers, PetsMarts etc that may somehow see the animal. That is one cool service!
Thirdly, I called Animal Control. Dispatch calmly listened to me frantically explain our situation and gave me the number and website information for the Lied Shelter, where all strays are taken. (702-384-3333 and AnimalFoundation.com). The number at night has a recorded message giving instructions and letting you know that the website is updated hourly with pet information.
I checked the website and used the user-friendly filtering system to sort the categories: Dog, Female, Over 1 year old, Brown, Medium sized. It came up with 12 dogs, none of which were our dearest Starr. This went on through the night. I kept checking, we were monitoring all the social media and the kids were combing the neighborhoods. In the end, one of the kids went to Animal Control and found the intake paper clearly showing our beloved Starr. She had managed, at 16 years old, to take a journey in a relatively short period of time 8 miles from home! Thank goodness she was found! We are all really happy!
Now, a few words of advice after this episode:
Animalfoundation.com is useless until after the intake process. According to Lied (I left a message on their recorder and they did call me back today by around 1 pm) the animals are considered in-transit till then. They are not scanned for microchips until the morning following their arrival at Lied. Lied can hardly be blamed for this as they get 50 TO 60 ANIMALS PER DAY dropped off at the shelter. Wow!! Per day including weekends!! So best bet is to just go to the shelter as soon as they are open to see if your dog is there. It would have been nice to have known that our pet would not be on the website for at least 24 hours after she went missing. That is really my only complaint about the entire process.
I was very happy with the service from Animal Control. Starr was picked up from a usually busy intersection unharmed and kept safe until my son arrived to pick her up. They were particularly busy that night because the wind was up and many gates were being blown open, apparently.
Thank you, Animal Control, for being a key part of bringing our beautiful pet back home to us!
Animal Control offers 24-hour service, seven days per week. Normal hours of operation are 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. An emergency callout officer is available after normal business hours. Our 24-hour service request line is (702) 229-6444, option 2.
Lied Shelter:
Hours of operation
Main Campus Public Hours:
Adoptions: 11am-7pm daily
Lost & Found: 10am-7pm daily
Low-Cost Vaccine Clinic:
Monday-Friday, 3-6pm; Saturday-Sunday, 10am-3pm
Low-Cost Spay & Neuter Clinic:
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays (appointments suggested)
PetSmart Charities Everyday Adoption Center
Adoptions: 9am-8pm daily (until 7pm Sundays).
The Animal Foundation Campus
655 N. Mojave Road
Las Vegas, NV 89101
P: (702) 384-3333