So you are fortunate enough that you have both sightings, and some depth in your volunteer base for responding to sightings. Or the family with the lost dog has friends, neighbors and extended family members that are ready to jump in and help. This is good!
But when a sighting comes in, if there are three people that you want to respond, or at least to notify to see if they can respond, you want to notify them all as quicky as possible. So here's a quick way if you have the sighting call taker at a computer.
For each first responder, collect the cell phone and their carrier name. Then determine the address at which you can send a short email from your email address that will be recieved as a text message by the first responder. I found the information by searching on "email to text"; plenty of resources came up. Here are the main providers, and what your emails would need to look like:
Provider Format
Sprint phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
Verizon phonenumber@vtext.com
T-Mobile phonenumber@tmomail.net
AT&T phonenumber@txt.att.net
So for example, if you have someone whose number is 800-555-1212 and their carrier is T-Mobile, then you email them at 8005551212@tmomail.net.
Obviously if you need to notify only one person of a hot sighting that you want them to respond to, this isn't a handy trick. But it works great if you have about 3 or more, and you have a computer to use to notify people. Even people that don't like to text back can at least read a text.
Give it a try the next time you have several people to notify that you have sighting calls to respond to.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Pictures for Large Posters
Obviously, fliers are a staple in lost dog searches. Everyone uses them, in all searches. Most commonly, people print them on an 8 1/2 " x 11" sheet of paper, and slap them on telephone poles.
Signs much larger than that are much, much more effective for spreading the word, needless to say. But they really raise the cost, and they take a lot of time to make if you cut costs by making them.
Then there's the problem of how to print pictures large enough. Well, check this out! It was just sent my way, and I tried it - it works great!
In this sample, I selected 2 pages, portrait, and US letter size. This basically means that my picture will be blown up such that 1/4 of the picture will print per page, which is already large enough that it will be a little blurry. But cars driving past from the distance they will be at, drivers should be able to see it.
Give it a try! Print large pictures for large signs that will be seen, and this should help spread the word!
Signs much larger than that are much, much more effective for spreading the word, needless to say. But they really raise the cost, and they take a lot of time to make if you cut costs by making them.
Then there's the problem of how to print pictures large enough. Well, check this out! It was just sent my way, and I tried it - it works great!
In this sample, I selected 2 pages, portrait, and US letter size. This basically means that my picture will be blown up such that 1/4 of the picture will print per page, which is already large enough that it will be a little blurry. But cars driving past from the distance they will be at, drivers should be able to see it.
Give it a try! Print large pictures for large signs that will be seen, and this should help spread the word!
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Precautions When Using Cameras
Recently, a dog that I was involved in the search for was found, by sightings and by a search dog, to be traveling accross a small piece of property that happened to belong to the town. It was outside the fence of the public works building. There was a spot that was perfect for a feeding station, and we strapped one of our cameras to a tree.
The camera was there for close to a week before it disappeared.
Some days afterwards, we were emailed by a neighbor living near where the feeding station was. It seems that someone from the town had gone in search of the camera owner, to tell them they could come pick up their camera from the police department. That neighbor knew how to contact us.
So I called the officer, and I was surprised to have him tell me that he needed me to give him the make and mode, and preferably the serial number, of the camera before he would release it to me.
Well, our group has a number of different cameras, and I didn't have any idea what camera was out there. Fortunately, someone in our group did know which camera was there, and she had its twin at home. She did need that to look up the make and model, and from it she also got the format of the serial number, in case that would help.
So, the lessons are, one, don't forget, as we did in that case, to put identification on a camera (such as strepping a business card on to it, and keep a record of the make, model and serial numbers -- just in case your camera is appropriated by a municipality!
The camera was there for close to a week before it disappeared.
Some days afterwards, we were emailed by a neighbor living near where the feeding station was. It seems that someone from the town had gone in search of the camera owner, to tell them they could come pick up their camera from the police department. That neighbor knew how to contact us.
So I called the officer, and I was surprised to have him tell me that he needed me to give him the make and mode, and preferably the serial number, of the camera before he would release it to me.
Well, our group has a number of different cameras, and I didn't have any idea what camera was out there. Fortunately, someone in our group did know which camera was there, and she had its twin at home. She did need that to look up the make and model, and from it she also got the format of the serial number, in case that would help.
So, the lessons are, one, don't forget, as we did in that case, to put identification on a camera (such as strepping a business card on to it, and keep a record of the make, model and serial numbers -- just in case your camera is appropriated by a municipality!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
The Worst Thing About Coyotes
Obviously, a dog, or any pet, being killed in a coyote attack would be about the worst thing that could happen to a missing pet.
But if you talk to a lot of people that spend their time searching for missing pets, the message that they will put out is that people giving up the search for their missing pets because they assume that they were killed by a coyote is the worst thing you can do. Coyotes don't account for anywhere near the amount of domestic animal kills that many people believe.
As a pet detective, one of the best ways you can assist missing pet owners is to advise them about coyotes, and to avoid placing an inordinate amount of stock in the idea that they have killed a dog or a cat, if they start talking about it. Here's a little reading on the subject:
Danielle Robertson discusses Trends in Coyote Attacks on Dogs in her blog.
One of the best succinct pages I've found on the subject is on the website of Carmen, a clairvoyant and a pet detective. Even if she is questionable as a source because of her status as a clairvoyant, she does a good job of putting the message out there: The Truth About Coyotes
Also read Digging for the Truth on Coyotes to get a little background on how scientists figure out that coyotes don't necessarily eat cats and small dogs as often as so many people believe.
But if you talk to a lot of people that spend their time searching for missing pets, the message that they will put out is that people giving up the search for their missing pets because they assume that they were killed by a coyote is the worst thing you can do. Coyotes don't account for anywhere near the amount of domestic animal kills that many people believe.
As a pet detective, one of the best ways you can assist missing pet owners is to advise them about coyotes, and to avoid placing an inordinate amount of stock in the idea that they have killed a dog or a cat, if they start talking about it. Here's a little reading on the subject:
Danielle Robertson discusses Trends in Coyote Attacks on Dogs in her blog.
One of the best succinct pages I've found on the subject is on the website of Carmen, a clairvoyant and a pet detective. Even if she is questionable as a source because of her status as a clairvoyant, she does a good job of putting the message out there: The Truth About Coyotes
Also read Digging for the Truth on Coyotes to get a little background on how scientists figure out that coyotes don't necessarily eat cats and small dogs as often as so many people believe.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Collecting Sighting Info
Often in a search for a lost dog, there are no, or few, sightings. And when the dog is actually out and about, as opposed to having been picked up, a lack of sightings can be very disheartening and depressing.
But then there are the cases with LOTS of sightings.
This tip is going to be valuable to only a fraction of individual lost dog owners who are currently searching for their lost dogs. But for the pet detective or lost dog recovery specialist, this gives you one more option to advise lost dog owners about if you are working a case with lots of sightings: Collect sighting information on an electronic form!
I haven't tried it yet, and in fact, I only just recently learned about free online form builders. And the first use I thought of related to searching for lost dogs is to collect sighting information. The first form building program I learned about was jotform.com, and I found some info on it on their Facebook page. So I suggest looking at that.
But since I really am not prepared to recommend one over the other, never having actually tried any of them, it seems that I should give equalt time to all of the programs I found quickly and easily with one quick internet search. So here are the websites I found, in no particular order other than alphabetical:
I'd love to hear how this works for anyone that tries it before I do. And I'd love to hear about other ideas for this kind of resource, in addition to the idea of collecting sighting info.
But then there are the cases with LOTS of sightings.
This tip is going to be valuable to only a fraction of individual lost dog owners who are currently searching for their lost dogs. But for the pet detective or lost dog recovery specialist, this gives you one more option to advise lost dog owners about if you are working a case with lots of sightings: Collect sighting information on an electronic form!
I haven't tried it yet, and in fact, I only just recently learned about free online form builders. And the first use I thought of related to searching for lost dogs is to collect sighting information. The first form building program I learned about was jotform.com, and I found some info on it on their Facebook page. So I suggest looking at that.
But since I really am not prepared to recommend one over the other, never having actually tried any of them, it seems that I should give equalt time to all of the programs I found quickly and easily with one quick internet search. So here are the websites I found, in no particular order other than alphabetical:
- http://www.emailmeform.com/
- http://www.formlogix.com/
- http://www.formsmarts.com/
- http://www.jotform.com/
- http://www.phpform.org/
- http://www.wufoo.com/
- http://www.zoho.com/
I'd love to hear how this works for anyone that tries it before I do. And I'd love to hear about other ideas for this kind of resource, in addition to the idea of collecting sighting info.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Surveillance Plans
A couple of nights ago, I ran a stake-out for the first time in a while, and this was after only participating in a few stake-outs before. Not that you know what I'd already learned, I'm going to share the new stuff I picked up.
One relates to establishing locations; one that we established turned out to be way too active. It was like Grand Central Station. There's a Dunkin Donuts and a Subway and a couple of restaurants. It probably would be a good location for an overnight stake-out, but this one ran from 8pm to midnight. We pulled it as soon as we figured it out, and reassigned the volunteers.
Another relates to deciding what volunteers are assigned to what locations. One volunteer has her own night vision, so we put her at one of two sites that was completely dark, with no street lighting. That was a good call. In another case, we got lucky when we paired two volunteers that were not interested in sharing a vehicle, but both stayed in their own cars, out of preference. We wanted the volunteers to help keep each other awake, so in general, this isn't preferable -- for them to be in separate cars. But at their site, it happens that one needed to watch the street and the other needed to watch the park, which are in opposite directions. So their cars faced opposite directions, and it worked.
We had neglected to instruct each volunteer team to study the areas surround each of the five surveillance sites, which they would need to know in case a sighting came in to one, since we would want all teams to move to the sighting area to assist. We got a volunteer to stay by the phone and computer so that she would be able to help navigate anyone that called her, in the event of a sighting, to the sighting location. Now, I would always want someone on standby for this reason.
We set up a phone tree in the event that a sighting came in. The first person to call would be the dog's foster mom, with whom she had bonded. Then the sighter would call the person on the list to which he was assigned. This would be the passenger/non-driver in another team. That person would call the person to whom they were assigned, which was the passenger in another team. This would continue until everyone was notified and would be on their way to the sighting locaiton. We tested this, and thankfully so since one person's phone number, on the list, was his home phone not his cell phone!
No, we never sighted the dog that night. But my consolation prize was figuring a few things out about stake-outs that I hadn't known before.
One relates to establishing locations; one that we established turned out to be way too active. It was like Grand Central Station. There's a Dunkin Donuts and a Subway and a couple of restaurants. It probably would be a good location for an overnight stake-out, but this one ran from 8pm to midnight. We pulled it as soon as we figured it out, and reassigned the volunteers.
Another relates to deciding what volunteers are assigned to what locations. One volunteer has her own night vision, so we put her at one of two sites that was completely dark, with no street lighting. That was a good call. In another case, we got lucky when we paired two volunteers that were not interested in sharing a vehicle, but both stayed in their own cars, out of preference. We wanted the volunteers to help keep each other awake, so in general, this isn't preferable -- for them to be in separate cars. But at their site, it happens that one needed to watch the street and the other needed to watch the park, which are in opposite directions. So their cars faced opposite directions, and it worked.
We had neglected to instruct each volunteer team to study the areas surround each of the five surveillance sites, which they would need to know in case a sighting came in to one, since we would want all teams to move to the sighting area to assist. We got a volunteer to stay by the phone and computer so that she would be able to help navigate anyone that called her, in the event of a sighting, to the sighting location. Now, I would always want someone on standby for this reason.
We set up a phone tree in the event that a sighting came in. The first person to call would be the dog's foster mom, with whom she had bonded. Then the sighter would call the person on the list to which he was assigned. This would be the passenger/non-driver in another team. That person would call the person to whom they were assigned, which was the passenger in another team. This would continue until everyone was notified and would be on their way to the sighting locaiton. We tested this, and thankfully so since one person's phone number, on the list, was his home phone not his cell phone!
No, we never sighted the dog that night. But my consolation prize was figuring a few things out about stake-outs that I hadn't known before.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Weatherproofing Fliers
All notices posted should be weather-proofed!
Page protectors are common, as are large ziplock bags. Clear contact paper can be used.
Remember when using page protectors to put the opening at the bottom! Here's a sign I encountered once that was printed on really good quality paper, so the flier itself was fine. But can you tell that the page protecters is holding several ounces of water?
Page protectors are common, as are large ziplock bags. Clear contact paper can be used.
Remember when using page protectors to put the opening at the bottom! Here's a sign I encountered once that was printed on really good quality paper, so the flier itself was fine. But can you tell that the page protecters is holding several ounces of water?
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Sighting Responses
It can be pretty exciting when, while a dog is missing, a sighting is reported. Hope comes alive, especially after a time with no sightings.
Sightings can change the direction of a search. When a sighting report comes in that is 4 blocks from where the dog is thought to be, fliering starts up in the new area and feeding stations are set up in the new area
False sightings aren't good, of course. It goes with out saying. But when you really want sightings and there haven't been any for a time, that last thing you want a sighting to be is a false sighting.
But because the possibility is always there, standard procedure calls for verifying the validity of a sighting. Always do that.
When a sighting call comes in, most people know to go to the area and search to see if the dog sighted is still in the area. What a lot of people don't know is that you also want to canvass the area, talking to everyone you can find, asking if they have seen such a dog, or if they know of a dog with a simlar look that resides in the area.
If the lost dog's owner or a volunteer are quick to deny that the dog sighted could be any dog other than the lost dog in question, probe them. I've been known to demand that questioning continue "until you find the dog in the neighborhood that looks like our lost dog, because the dog sighted was not our lost dog". (And yes, the expected dog has been found in such cases.)
For pet detectives or lost dog recovery specialists, this is one of the discussion items that belongs on the (lengthy) list of those that get covered early on. Too bad there are so many items on that list.
So, what are you doing? You have a picture of the dog, and copies of the flier and biz cards. You walk around the area, looking for people you can see moving about, be they residents if it's a residential area, or anyone moving through it such as service or delivery people, mail carriers, professional dog walkers. Stop and talk to those you see, but also knock on doors.
Show a picture of the lost dog, and state that there was a sighting of a dog matching its description. Ask if the person has seen a dog like that, and ask if the person knows anything about a dog that might live in the area that could have been seen and believed to be the lost dog. If yes, ask where that dog lives, so that you can go there and ask if said dog had been out on its own recently.
It's tough to get pumped up from a sighting, and then have the sighting shot down in this way. But it's a necessary task. As disappointing as this is, sightings need to be uncovered as false when they are, in fact, false sightings.
Sightings can change the direction of a search. When a sighting report comes in that is 4 blocks from where the dog is thought to be, fliering starts up in the new area and feeding stations are set up in the new area
False sightings aren't good, of course. It goes with out saying. But when you really want sightings and there haven't been any for a time, that last thing you want a sighting to be is a false sighting.
But because the possibility is always there, standard procedure calls for verifying the validity of a sighting. Always do that.
When a sighting call comes in, most people know to go to the area and search to see if the dog sighted is still in the area. What a lot of people don't know is that you also want to canvass the area, talking to everyone you can find, asking if they have seen such a dog, or if they know of a dog with a simlar look that resides in the area.
If the lost dog's owner or a volunteer are quick to deny that the dog sighted could be any dog other than the lost dog in question, probe them. I've been known to demand that questioning continue "until you find the dog in the neighborhood that looks like our lost dog, because the dog sighted was not our lost dog". (And yes, the expected dog has been found in such cases.)
For pet detectives or lost dog recovery specialists, this is one of the discussion items that belongs on the (lengthy) list of those that get covered early on. Too bad there are so many items on that list.
So, what are you doing? You have a picture of the dog, and copies of the flier and biz cards. You walk around the area, looking for people you can see moving about, be they residents if it's a residential area, or anyone moving through it such as service or delivery people, mail carriers, professional dog walkers. Stop and talk to those you see, but also knock on doors.
Show a picture of the lost dog, and state that there was a sighting of a dog matching its description. Ask if the person has seen a dog like that, and ask if the person knows anything about a dog that might live in the area that could have been seen and believed to be the lost dog. If yes, ask where that dog lives, so that you can go there and ask if said dog had been out on its own recently.
It's tough to get pumped up from a sighting, and then have the sighting shot down in this way. But it's a necessary task. As disappointing as this is, sightings need to be uncovered as false when they are, in fact, false sightings.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Fundraising for Lost Dog Searches
The search for a lost dog can be amazingly expensive. And yet often, there are many people that would be willing to and would want to donate to the cause if they were asked or at least offered an easy way to do so when their friends, family or even total strangers with compelling stories find themselves in a lost dog search.
Websites such as the following offer easy ways to allow people to donate large or small amounts to a search:
And there are more that you may be aware of.
As a lost dog recovery specialist, I encourage dog owners (or responsible parties) to consider this option. It's very easy to set up a fundraising account, and link it to a Paypal account. What happens is that funds raised go into a bank account, via Paypal, and what sites like Chipin or Fundrazr or FirstGiving do is provde an image that displays the details of the fundraising effort in an interesting image that is dynamic, and changes as new donations are entered. They also provide a single page devoted to the fundraising effort, allowing you space to make a case for why people should donate to your cause.
Here's an example of a ChipIn "widget" as it's called, which might be placed on a website such as a blog that is centered around a search for a lost dog:
Sadly in the example case, this dog's owner did not publicize the fundraising effort after setting up the account, so this example doesn't show the many contributors and high dollar amounts that you can sometimes see for lost dog searches.
When you set up an account, you get (1) html code to place the image on a website, and (2) a hyperlink to a page which can be sent out in emails, posted to Craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, bulletin boards, on websites -- you name it.
And you would be amazed at the response you can get when you ask for help, particularly when you make it this easy, and if you engage people in the search by posting updates. That applies to friends, family and to total strangers!
Many people don't want to go this route at all because they want to fund the search themselves. Sometimes it is that they don't know how expensive it can get, sometimes they are just to uncomfortable to ask for help, and often it is because they assume that no one will be able to or be interested in helping in this way.
For me, it's standard to advise people to consider this option. Check out what fundraising is like today with sites such as these.
Websites such as the following offer easy ways to allow people to donate large or small amounts to a search:
And there are more that you may be aware of.
As a lost dog recovery specialist, I encourage dog owners (or responsible parties) to consider this option. It's very easy to set up a fundraising account, and link it to a Paypal account. What happens is that funds raised go into a bank account, via Paypal, and what sites like Chipin or Fundrazr or FirstGiving do is provde an image that displays the details of the fundraising effort in an interesting image that is dynamic, and changes as new donations are entered. They also provide a single page devoted to the fundraising effort, allowing you space to make a case for why people should donate to your cause.
Here's an example of a ChipIn "widget" as it's called, which might be placed on a website such as a blog that is centered around a search for a lost dog:
Sadly in the example case, this dog's owner did not publicize the fundraising effort after setting up the account, so this example doesn't show the many contributors and high dollar amounts that you can sometimes see for lost dog searches.
When you set up an account, you get (1) html code to place the image on a website, and (2) a hyperlink to a page which can be sent out in emails, posted to Craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, bulletin boards, on websites -- you name it.
And you would be amazed at the response you can get when you ask for help, particularly when you make it this easy, and if you engage people in the search by posting updates. That applies to friends, family and to total strangers!
Many people don't want to go this route at all because they want to fund the search themselves. Sometimes it is that they don't know how expensive it can get, sometimes they are just to uncomfortable to ask for help, and often it is because they assume that no one will be able to or be interested in helping in this way.
For me, it's standard to advise people to consider this option. Check out what fundraising is like today with sites such as these.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Ask For Help
That's the message from this blog update!
It's one of the first messages I try to give to people looking for their lost dogs when I have only time for a few messages. And believe me, it's hard to fit it in because there are really quite a number of items that make up the list of the first things to coach a lost dog owner/guardian about.
There are so many anecdotes and illustrations that breathe life into the "ask for help" statement. I will focus on just one, which you can read and/or watch for yourself. It's the story of Domino, a rat terrier in whose home is in Phoenix and who went missing in California
When Kim and Jason, Domino's mom and dad, vacationed for a week in San Diego, Domino naturally joined them. It was a family vacation, after all. While on a walk with one of the friends, Domino got away. Long story short, Kim and Jason ended up having to leave and return to Phoenix after several days, without Domino.
For several weeks, Kim searched online, and did everything she could think of using the internet. In an online posting, she saw that someone spotted a small terrier type dog, and though it was quite a distance from where Domino went missing, Kim knew enough to at least check it out. She contacted the poster, a woman named Vicki. It didn't take long to establish that the dog Vicki saw was not Domino. But during the time that the conversation took place, and perhaps in part being drawn out by Vicki's warm personality, Kim opened up to Vicki and shared her grief and desperation for help.
After a couple of days, Vicki realized that she was compelled to help. With posters in hand and friends expressing draw dropping disbelief at what she was doing, she set out on the hour-and-a-half drive from Laguna Beach to San Diego to put up posters. Vicki had never done anything like this.
While putting up just the second poster, she was approached by someone certain that this was the dog she had been seeing for a few weeks. So, Vicki found Domino in record time! But all her attempts to get her to come to her failed -- so much that she called Kim to come and get Domino herself. Kim tore out of her house, with no airline ticket, and caught the first flight she could get to San Diego, where Vicki picked her up. And Domino needed only to hear Kim's voice to come running!
It's a wonderful, wonderful story. and you can watch the long and/or the short version of the story told by Vicki, and read the story as told in the Orange County Register.
If you are one who helps people find their lost dogs, you may not always have the time to tell this story. And frantic lost dog owners don't have time to watch or read it as they worry for the safety of their pets, and miss them so terribly.
But if this story helps to impress on you the importance of encouraging people to ask for help, or at least allowing them to do so when they offer (and I watch people refuse help all the time), then I've done what I wanted to do.
It's one of the first messages I try to give to people looking for their lost dogs when I have only time for a few messages. And believe me, it's hard to fit it in because there are really quite a number of items that make up the list of the first things to coach a lost dog owner/guardian about.
There are so many anecdotes and illustrations that breathe life into the "ask for help" statement. I will focus on just one, which you can read and/or watch for yourself. It's the story of Domino, a rat terrier in whose home is in Phoenix and who went missing in California
When Kim and Jason, Domino's mom and dad, vacationed for a week in San Diego, Domino naturally joined them. It was a family vacation, after all. While on a walk with one of the friends, Domino got away. Long story short, Kim and Jason ended up having to leave and return to Phoenix after several days, without Domino.
For several weeks, Kim searched online, and did everything she could think of using the internet. In an online posting, she saw that someone spotted a small terrier type dog, and though it was quite a distance from where Domino went missing, Kim knew enough to at least check it out. She contacted the poster, a woman named Vicki. It didn't take long to establish that the dog Vicki saw was not Domino. But during the time that the conversation took place, and perhaps in part being drawn out by Vicki's warm personality, Kim opened up to Vicki and shared her grief and desperation for help.
After a couple of days, Vicki realized that she was compelled to help. With posters in hand and friends expressing draw dropping disbelief at what she was doing, she set out on the hour-and-a-half drive from Laguna Beach to San Diego to put up posters. Vicki had never done anything like this.
While putting up just the second poster, she was approached by someone certain that this was the dog she had been seeing for a few weeks. So, Vicki found Domino in record time! But all her attempts to get her to come to her failed -- so much that she called Kim to come and get Domino herself. Kim tore out of her house, with no airline ticket, and caught the first flight she could get to San Diego, where Vicki picked her up. And Domino needed only to hear Kim's voice to come running!
It's a wonderful, wonderful story. and you can watch the long and/or the short version of the story told by Vicki, and read the story as told in the Orange County Register.
If you are one who helps people find their lost dogs, you may not always have the time to tell this story. And frantic lost dog owners don't have time to watch or read it as they worry for the safety of their pets, and miss them so terribly.
But if this story helps to impress on you the importance of encouraging people to ask for help, or at least allowing them to do so when they offer (and I watch people refuse help all the time), then I've done what I wanted to do.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Pet Harbor
Pet Harbor. Ever heard of it? I guess I would say that Pet Harbor is for animal shelters what Petfinder is for homeless animals in search of new homes.
If there’s one site that most (but sadly, not all) rescue organizations and municipal animal shelters use to post their adoptable pets, it would be Petfinder.com. The site uses good technology, and it’s been promoted well enough that it has become the website of choice for posting adoptable rescue animals. I see this as a good thing.
And if there’s one website that most animal shelters use to post pictures and information about the stray pets they take in and house (again, there isn’t!), then that website would be petharbor.com. Pet Harbor is also used for posting shelters’ adoptable pets, but the stray pets posting is what I concern myself with and what I’m referring to. I wouldn’t say that its technology or promotion, and therefore usage, is quite on a par with petfinder.com, but it’s “good enough”. Instructions for using the Pet Harbor website are at eHow, and you can find some statistical data about its traffic at faqs.org.
While there’s not really a substitute for going into a shelter and checking in person, by far the closest thing to that is checking petharbor.com. It’s not without its drawbacks and downsides, and it takes some exploration to figure out its navigation, but it should never be dismissed. It should be a standard part of every search for a missing pet. By that I mean checking it several times a day.
The job can easily be assigned to someone other than the dog’s frantic and depressed owner. In fact, it can be done by someone not anywhere near the area where the dog was lost if that person has a few good pictures of the dog to use for comparisons against the pictures of lost dogs in shelters that are posted to Pet Harbor. Many a lost dog owner has told me “I don’t know many people here since I only moved here a while ago, so no, I don’t have people that can help me with the search” to which I’ve responded in this way:
In order to put Pet Harbor to the best use, check in with the shelters in your area that use it, and find out how often the shelter staff and volunteers post to it, and in general, how seriously THEY take it. Hopefully you will find that they update it several times a day. If so, then you should have someone checking it several times a day during any lost dog search.
I operate with people that search through Pet Harbor and Craigslist every day, and who have therefore helped MANY strangers reunite with their lost dogs by telling them something that they didn’t know: that their dog is at the shelter. Often, a person files a lost dog report with the shelter and they then feel they have “checked the box” and they never check back, or even plan to, because they assume they will get a call if the dog makes its way in to the shelter. Many people never learn that they can check the shelter dogs with Pet Harbor.
So if you feel like being a hero, get in the habit of checking Pet Harbor as soon as you learn about a dog that has gone missing. Eventually it will pay off!
If there’s one site that most (but sadly, not all) rescue organizations and municipal animal shelters use to post their adoptable pets, it would be Petfinder.com. The site uses good technology, and it’s been promoted well enough that it has become the website of choice for posting adoptable rescue animals. I see this as a good thing.
And if there’s one website that most animal shelters use to post pictures and information about the stray pets they take in and house (again, there isn’t!), then that website would be petharbor.com. Pet Harbor is also used for posting shelters’ adoptable pets, but the stray pets posting is what I concern myself with and what I’m referring to. I wouldn’t say that its technology or promotion, and therefore usage, is quite on a par with petfinder.com, but it’s “good enough”. Instructions for using the Pet Harbor website are at eHow, and you can find some statistical data about its traffic at faqs.org.
While there’s not really a substitute for going into a shelter and checking in person, by far the closest thing to that is checking petharbor.com. It’s not without its drawbacks and downsides, and it takes some exploration to figure out its navigation, but it should never be dismissed. It should be a standard part of every search for a missing pet. By that I mean checking it several times a day.
The job can easily be assigned to someone other than the dog’s frantic and depressed owner. In fact, it can be done by someone not anywhere near the area where the dog was lost if that person has a few good pictures of the dog to use for comparisons against the pictures of lost dogs in shelters that are posted to Pet Harbor. Many a lost dog owner has told me “I don’t know many people here since I only moved here a while ago, so no, I don’t have people that can help me with the search” to which I’ve responded in this way:
“Do you have family, college roommates , former neighbors or anyone in your life that live in other parts of the country, but love you and want to help you when you need help? Are there people that would actually be hurt if you didn’t let them help you when you are down? Don’t YOU have friends in other parts of the country that you would want to help in times of need? Let one or two of those people help you by handling the Pet Harbor searching for your lost dog.”
In order to put Pet Harbor to the best use, check in with the shelters in your area that use it, and find out how often the shelter staff and volunteers post to it, and in general, how seriously THEY take it. Hopefully you will find that they update it several times a day. If so, then you should have someone checking it several times a day during any lost dog search.
I operate with people that search through Pet Harbor and Craigslist every day, and who have therefore helped MANY strangers reunite with their lost dogs by telling them something that they didn’t know: that their dog is at the shelter. Often, a person files a lost dog report with the shelter and they then feel they have “checked the box” and they never check back, or even plan to, because they assume they will get a call if the dog makes its way in to the shelter. Many people never learn that they can check the shelter dogs with Pet Harbor.
So if you feel like being a hero, get in the habit of checking Pet Harbor as soon as you learn about a dog that has gone missing. Eventually it will pay off!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Fliers in Residental Mailboxes
I think most people have heard, somewhere along the way, that it’s illegal to put missing pet (or any) fliers in mail boxes – right? You probably don’t actually question it, but if you’re like me, you’d really like to see the code that spells it out. And I have it for you.
There are several codes to look at to get the full picture. You want to look at Title 18, Section 1725, which you can find at: http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/18C83.txt. (This is on the US House of Representatives' website.) Here’s how it reads:
And here’s a more reader-friendly version, on the Cornell University Law School site:
Then you also want to look on the US Postal Service’s website at the Domestic Mail Manual, then search on “Customer Mail Receptacles”, the second and third paragraphs. Get straight to it by going to: http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/508.htm. The important parts are where it says:
Here’s a visual for you:
And last, though I couldn’t find an the actual bulletin, I found a quote that was in a USPS Postal Bulletin, Issue 21861, 2-17-94, p. 37 (wouldn’t you know that the USPS started putting its bulletins online in 1995), entitled "Mailable Matter in or on Private Mail Receptacles” which reads as follows:
There are several codes to look at to get the full picture. You want to look at Title 18, Section 1725, which you can find at: http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/18C83.txt. (This is on the US House of Representatives' website.) Here’s how it reads:
TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I - CRIMES
CHAPTER 83 - POSTAL SERVICE
Sec. 1725. Postage unpaid on deposited mail matter
-STATUTE- Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits any mailable matter such as statements of accounts, circulars, sale bills, or other like matter, on which no postage has been paid, in any letter box established, approved, or accepted by the Postal Service for the receipt or delivery of mail matter on any mail route with intent to avoid payment of lawful postage thereon, shall for each such offense be fined under this title.
And here’s a more reader-friendly version, on the Cornell University Law School site:
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| Click for a larger view |
Then you also want to look on the US Postal Service’s website at the Domestic Mail Manual, then search on “Customer Mail Receptacles”, the second and third paragraphs. Get straight to it by going to: http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/508.htm. The important parts are where it says:
“Door slots and non-lockable bins or troughs used with apartment house mailboxes are not letterboxes within the meaning of 18 USC 1725 and are not private mail receptacles for the standards for mailable matter not bearing postage found in or on private mail receptacles. The post or other support is not part of the receptacle”
and
“no part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items or matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle. Any mailable matter not bearing postage and found as described above is subject to the same postage as would be paid if it were carried by mail.”
and
“no part of a mail receptacle may be used to deliver any matter not bearing postage, including items or matter placed upon, supported by, attached to, hung from, or inserted into a mail receptacle. Any mailable matter not bearing postage and found as described above is subject to the same postage as would be paid if it were carried by mail.”
Here’s a visual for you:
 |
| Click for a larger view |
And last, though I couldn’t find an the actual bulletin, I found a quote that was in a USPS Postal Bulletin, Issue 21861, 2-17-94, p. 37 (wouldn’t you know that the USPS started putting its bulletins online in 1995), entitled "Mailable Matter in or on Private Mail Receptacles” which reads as follows:
"Mailable matter not bearing postage found in or on private mail receptacles represents a revenue deficiency to the Postal Service and is a violation of federal law. Title 18 United States Code, section 1725, provides for a fine of not more than $300 per piece for these violations. All employees must uniformly enforce the procedures detailed in the Domestic Mail Manual, section P011.2.0. The failure to enforce these procedures uniformly may jeopardize the criminal prosecution of repeated violators."
You may also find this page helpful: http://www.lplists.com/mail-off.htm
What's your interpretation? Mine is -- steer clear of residential mailboxes! But feel free to put them in a newspaper box, in a mail slot, or at the front door, such as hanging in a bag on the knob, or rolled up and threaded through the handle.
Here's an important point for pet detectives or for organized volunteers assisting in a specific search -- remember to cover this important regulation with the missing pet's people early in the game. I once stepped in to a search late on the very afternoon that the dog's people had spent hours, before my arrival and before we could talk, putting fliers into mailboxes in the rural area where the dog had been seen. That night, she recieved an angry email from a resident who had found a flier in her mailbox, stating that he was filing a complaint with the post office since it's illegal to put fliers in mailboxes. Sure enough he did, on Monday. The lost dog's person got off easy, with a warning from a postal worker who obviously hated being placed in the position of having to contact her. But she did break a law. And this was very awkward for me since volunteering to assist people search for and recover their lost dogs is what I do, so I can't be any part of breaking federal, or local, laws.
It was a lesson for me . . . however the problem is that there are a TON of important points that all need to be covered with the people as the first item of business when starting to help someone search for their missing pet!
What's your interpretation? Mine is -- steer clear of residential mailboxes! But feel free to put them in a newspaper box, in a mail slot, or at the front door, such as hanging in a bag on the knob, or rolled up and threaded through the handle.
Here's an important point for pet detectives or for organized volunteers assisting in a specific search -- remember to cover this important regulation with the missing pet's people early in the game. I once stepped in to a search late on the very afternoon that the dog's people had spent hours, before my arrival and before we could talk, putting fliers into mailboxes in the rural area where the dog had been seen. That night, she recieved an angry email from a resident who had found a flier in her mailbox, stating that he was filing a complaint with the post office since it's illegal to put fliers in mailboxes. Sure enough he did, on Monday. The lost dog's person got off easy, with a warning from a postal worker who obviously hated being placed in the position of having to contact her. But she did break a law. And this was very awkward for me since volunteering to assist people search for and recover their lost dogs is what I do, so I can't be any part of breaking federal, or local, laws.
It was a lesson for me . . . however the problem is that there are a TON of important points that all need to be covered with the people as the first item of business when starting to help someone search for their missing pet!
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