Losing a companion animal can nowadays give you more than heartache and countless sleepless nights, waiting for them to return. Thirteen-year old Daniel Cope from Kent was faced with an ASBO of £80 under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act for putting up posters to find his cat in his local neighbourhood. This is often the first thing people do when finding a companion animal has gone missing, but the demand from the community warden was firm: Tear the posters down or be fined. Milly, the family cat has been missing for two weeks now, after falling out of the family home’s window.
Should your cat, dog or any other companion animal go missing, here are a few handy hints that may help:
* Scour the streets top to bottom, looking under parked cars and in bushes. Don’t be shy – knock on your neighbours’ doors if you need to. They may have seen something but not thought anything of it.
* When searching, call out the companion animal’s name, shake their biscuits, tinkle any toys and remember to listen carefully.
* Not all communities are the same! Posters on lampposts are still the most common way of people trying to find their missing companion animals, and this council in particular has admitted to being ‘overzealous’. Make the decision for yourself about this.
* Speak to your local newspaper. They may place an ad in the announcements section free of charge. The same goes for notices in local shop windows.
* Prevention is always better than a cure. Get your companion animal microchipped, ensure they wear a collar with their name and your phone number on it.
* Pet Detectives aren’t confined to the movies. There are ‘missing pets bureaus’ out there that will help you in your search.
