+ Will you pick up stray and lost animals?

We continue to perform all our animal services responsibilities. That includes picking up, and taking in, lost and stray animals.

What's new is that we are offering and encouraging alternatives to animals entering the shelter by providing support and resources that will help keep pets in their homes and communities. In the case of lost pets, that means our primary goal is to reunite lost pets with their families.

We now encourage and support those who find a lost pet to hold onto them for 48 hours, because this vastly increases the chances of the pet being reunited with their family. [Name of shelter] will provide food and other supplies to those who can temporarily foster a found pet.

If you find a lost pet, and can hold them for 48 hours, here's what to do: File a found report online with the shelter. [Link to page with info on how found pet reports can be filed; if your shelter does not have an online reporting system for found pets, explain who people should contact, how and with what information to ensure a virtual intake is done to help the owner find their lost pet.] Post photos to social media, and walk the pet in the neighborhood to see if anyone recognizes them. You can also follow these simple steps for a found dog or a found cat or kittens to get them back to their owner. [Replace above link with link to your shelter's Lost and Found page.]

These changes are very important because most lost pets aren't very far from home. One animal shelter found 85 percent of lost pets held for 48 hours were returned home. Only 26 percent of pets taken directly to the shelter had that same outcome. A 2020 study out of Dallas found nearly half of stray dogs were a mere 400 feet from home and almost all were within a mile of their houses.

+ Will people who find lost pets be required to keep them?

No one is required to keep a pet they've found, if they can't or simply do not want to. If someone is able to hold a found pet temporarily, we provide food and supplies.

If someone can’t find the owner or isn't able to hold the pet, the shelter will take in the lost pet. Lost pets are held in the shelter for [X] days so the owner has a chance to reclaim them, before they go up for adoption or into a new foster home.

Here's a tip from Mike Wheeler, who implemented a successful "First 48" program at Cabot Animal Support Services: Always thank finders for their compassion and explain that, if they can hold the animal for just two days while searching for the owner, the animal has a much higher chance of returning home than if it enters the shelter. Then, schedule a date and time for the finder to bring in the animal if an owner isn't located. Scheduling a set day/time reassures the finder and makes them more likely to help and gives you time to prepare in case the animal does need to enter the shelter. Win-win!

+ Will the shelter help sick and injured dogs and cats?

Sick and injured animals who can’t be reunited with their owners in the field will be routed to the shelter for treatment and care. If the owner is still not found during or after treatment, the pet will either be kept in the shelter or placed in a foster home.

Pets heal and recover more quickly in a home than in a shelter. The shelter provides food, vet care, and supplies—the foster provides a safe temporary home, and lots of love.

+ Can I be a foster?

We always need more fosters who are able to take in and care for pets! We have some fosters who specialize in pets recovering from illness or injury. Others open their homes temporarily to puppies, kittens, dogs, cats, and other pets. Our emergency fostering program is for pets whose families are undergoing a crisis such as loss of housing or hospitalization, and need a safe, temporary place for their pet to stay. [Replace above link with link to your shelter's page on kittens.]

You can foster for as little as a weekend or over a holiday, for several weeks, or for longer periods. Please reach out at [phone number or email address] with any questions, and here is where you can sign up to foster a shelter pet! [Provide a link to where people sign up to foster.]

Your shelter’s flowchart is individual to you, but you might support kittens outside your shelter by placing kitten kits around your town/city or offering a foster helpline or Facebook group.

+ How can I get help with my pet, and what kind of help is available?

Shelters: This is the question you'll likely be asked the most. Only you can answer it! Here's where you will want to list the resources and support you have available, like a pet food bank, behavior helpline, assistance with veterinary care, emergency fostering, or any others. Give links to relevant pages on your website and forms, and list the phone number that people should call to find out more.

+ Is returning cats into the community, or allowing cats to remain in their outdoor homes, considered abandonment?

Community cat programs like Trap-Neuter-Return and supporting cats in their outdoor home are the most effective and humane model of free-roaming cat management. We provide support and supplies to our community's cat caretakers, so we can all work together to keep the cats safe and healthy in their outdoor homes.

Abandonment laws, defined as intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or with criminal negligence leaving an animal without proper or necessary care, do not apply to community cat practices.

Our community-focused approach assures that beneficial resources are available in the neighborhood, such as providing caretaker support with food and supplies, future medical support for the cats, and weather-appropriate housing as needed. Caretakers can contact us with questions, and to request supplies and support.

+ I understand returning "feral" cats to their outdoor homes, but why would you return or leave in place a friendly cat who could otherwise be adopted?

An outdoor cat's friendliness is a sign that someone is taking care of them. They may even have a team of caregivers. Is the cat healthy-looking and not too thin? Then the cat is most likely thriving outdoors.

Community cats live outdoors and have been living outdoors throughout time. Outdoor cats become social with people when they have positive human interaction. Friendly cats impounded by a shelter are often indoor/outdoor pets or outdoor cats separated from their families when removed from their neighborhood.

When we bring friendly cats found outside into shelters unnecessarily, we may be stealing them from families who love them. This creates a well of distrust between the community and the shelter. Removing the cat from the neighborhood and taking them to a shelter, often located far from their home, reduces the likelihood of that cat being reunited with their people. This disproportionately impacts marginalized communities.

Indiscriminately removing cats may also lead to more intact cats moving into the area.