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Loss Prevention
1. Spay or neuter your pet! Virginia law requires
all adoptions from shelters and rescue organizations to ensure pets are spayed/neutered. There are also many resources
online to help you find low cost spay/neuter clinics in your area. Animals that are "intact" are much more likely to
roam and try to escape.
2. ALL pets should wear a collar with ID and rabies tags.
Ask your vet or local shelter which collars are safest and least likely to come off.
3. Consider microchipping your pet. It's inexpensive
and pets that are microchipped have a much greater chance of being returned to their owner. Ask your vet or local shelter
about microchipping.
If You Lose Your Pet
1. Call all your local veterinarians and shelters
to report the missing animal. Give a full description of the animal, including name, breed, age, size, coloring, whether
the animal is spayed/neutered, type of collar and ID, and temperament (friendly, timid, etc.)
2. Hang posters up around where the animal was lost.
The posters should be big, basic and bold (see sample below). You can make more detailed flyers that include a
photo and good description of the animal to hand out, but your main focus should be very plain bold posters in large print
that are readable from a distance. A good example is "LOST - BLACK LAB - REWARD - PHONE NUMBER". (Including a
reward is always a good idea.)
3. There's a very good website called findtoto.com
(click on banner below to go to their site) that has great success rate. For a basic fee, their automated
system will call your neighbors with a recorded message about your lost pet. They call thousands of numbers in minutes.
If they don’t reach a live person, they’ll leave a message.
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