There is a lot of misinformation and misunderstandings about how pet microchips work, and sadly, many microchipped pets never make it back home. One study found that 48% of microchipped dogs and 61% of microchipped cats that ended up in shelters were never returned to their owners (Lord et al. 2009). The primary reasons were […]
If your cat is missing, you probably heard that you should put out their cat litter box or spread dirty litter around your yard to help them find their way home. You may have even heard that your cat can smell their dirty litter a mile away. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that a cat
Unfortunately, there are few research studies on lost pet behavior. This is a list of citations and abstracts of published research papers related to lost pet behavior and recovery. There are links to a few of the papers. You may be able to find other papers by visiting your local college or university and checking
Research Studies on Lost Pet Behavior and Recovery Read More »
Missing Pet Partnership has partnered with the University of Queensland, Australia, to conduct the first-ever Missing Cat Study. Lost cats that are not found by their families are a major contributing factor to worldwide feral, shelter, and homeless cat populations. In 2011 a preliminary, non-scientific study by Missing Pet Partnership determined that the majority (93%)
I originally wrote this article as a response to a similarly titled article Should We Catch the Dog? by Mark Johnson, DVM, of Global Wildlife Resources. The article and ensuing discussion were about whether we should always catch feral/roaming dogs or whether it is sometimes in the dog’s best interest to leave them free. This is a rarely asked
The idea of using a tracking dog to find a lost dog is very compelling, but most people who pursue this option do not have a good understanding of how a tracking (or trailing) dog works. In some cases a tracking dog CAN provide useful information for locating a lost dog such as confirming sightings or
When NOT to Use a Tracking Dog to Find a Lost Dog Read More »
Google Voice is a free internet phone service that can be used to aid in lost pet searches. You just need to have a Gmail account (also free), and you can select a Google Voice phone number. When this number is called, you can set your account up so that the call is forwarded to
Using Google Voice to Aid in Searches for Missing Pets Read More »
Many cat owners believe that a lost cat will find its way home. Lord (2008) conducted a survey of households in Ohio and found that 62% of cat owners believed that if their cat strayed from home they would be able to find their way home on their own. Only 21% of cat owners disagreed
I was surprised to recently learn that as many as 30% of people acquire their cats because they were found as strays or abandoned or “just showed up” (New et al. 2004) This does not include cats adopted from shelters, which accounted for another 13% of cats acquired, or those adopted from rescue groups, friends
Adoption of Stray Cats and the Importance of Lost Pet Posters Read More »
Many lost cats will react in fear when they are approached by any person including their owner. This well documented behavior is frequently confusing and even heart-breaking to the lost cat’s owner who cannot understand why their cat would act this way. I think that former pet detective Donna Holsten described this phenomenon best when
