A piece of advice!
In this section you will find some useful hints about what to do in case you have lost or found a pet.
In this section you will find some useful hints about what to do in case you have lost or found a pet
First of all, you need to be aware that an animal does not get lost on purpose. Many people, a part from feeling grief and sorrow, are puzzled and often feel bitter because they believe that the animal has escaped premeditatedly, out of spite.
A pet, which enjoys a serene relationship with its family, will NEVER feel
the need to run away.
On the other hand, it often occurs, that many animals are secluded in a
golden cage, which is YOUR home, for a lifetime.
If you and the persons you love were isolated in the most beautiful palace, what would you believe would happen, if a door were left open?
The need to explore the world around us and to be free are written in the genetic code of every living being, with the exclusion of vegetables, which have opted to grow roots. Freedom is not only a right, but also a real physiological necessity, the basis for a healthy mental balance as well as the basis for a sane relationship with you and the world around you.
Another common disbelief is that animals do not get lost and that, on the contrary, they are able to find their way home from wherever they may be. If this were true, the millions of people working to reunite lost pets with their owners would not exist and neither would our Association.
Animals, dogs and cats included (with the exception of some birds) do not necessarily have the inborn and perfect compass that people assume. If an animal gets lost... it is lost! The very few, reported cases of animals that have returned home, even covering long distances, can only be explained with a peculiar, subjective attitude of orientation referred only to a particular animal and especially to a very lucky sequence of coincidences.
But if an animal gets lost it has a powerful ally: YOU!
To find a beloved animal, a family member, you will not only need a pinch
of luck but you will especially need: endurance, courage, determination
and to be methodical!
In this chapter you will find some useful advice in case you have lost your
own pet or found somebody else's pet.
What to do if you have lost your pet
Of course it is easier said than done, but first of all... stay calm!
Start your search as soon as you are aware that your darling has disappeared
or has "not returned" as it usually does. Animals normally have
fixed habits and you should know your pet's routine. To minimize, to be
too optimistic, or on the contrary, to become hysterical may have fatal
consequences.
Try to reconstruct the exact date, time, place and modality of how you have lost each other.
Prepare a flyer with the exact description of what has
happened showing a picture of your pet using a photo (see the "Poster
and Fliers" section where you will find some very good examples
on how to prepare a flyer. These flyers are not copyright protected and
you may download as many as you need).
If possible, use a laser printer and not an ink-jet printer, preferring
colour prints. Laser prints are better water resistant (and therefore rain
resistant!) than ink jet prints and colour prints may play a determining
role in identifying your pet. You should use a clear picture that shows
your pet in a recognizable way for strangers. A picture of a curled up,
sleeping cat is of no use to anybody! If you do not have any pictures of
your pet, try to find a picture of the same breed that best resembles your
pet, but state in the flyer that it is a resemblance of your pet. If you
do not find a resembling photo, use the flyers with the stylized templates.
Do not put your flyers into expensive paper protectors. You will not only
save time and money, but you will also avoid moisture ruining your flyers
and making them useless.
We DO NOT suggest writing "big reward" on the flyer. If you want, offer it once you have solved the case but do NOT offer money through the flyer. There are people who have kidnapped other people's pets for the sole purpose of getting a reward.
Do not forget to write in the flyer: the date, your name
and your handy number (remember to keep it turned on!).
Repeat this information on the lower part of the flyer
(see sample in the "Poster
and Fliers" section) in order to provide information to all those
who would like to help you but do not have a pen and paper with them.
Use an A4 format (21 x 29 cm = 8,3 x 11,6 inches) instead of smaller paper sheets, because nobody walking or driving will notice them otherwise. Use adhesive tape to hang the flyers. The best kind is the whitish type, made of glued paper, which is normally used to protect glass when you are painting the window frame. This kind of tape is inexpensive (less than 2 Euro for one roll), water resistant and can be taken away without adhesive traces once you have found your pet.
The best place to hang flyers are street crossings, drainpipes, and the posts near bus stops. Try not to use the posts of traffic signals! When hanging the flyers on street crossings, place them in all four directions so that drivers can see the flyer from each direction.
Tell as many people as you can about your problem and contact/send flyers to all those who are listed in our database online (see the "Useful numbers" section).
Hang flyers in the following places or give flyers to the following people:
- All your neighbours
- All Veterinarians (look them up in the yellow pages/phone book)
- The ASL offices (Italian Sanitary Department - look them up in the yellow pages/phone book)
- The Anagrafe Canina (the local dog registry office - look them up in the yellow pages/phone book)
- The Local URP (Public Relations Office - look them up in the yellow pages/phone book)
- The offices for animal right and protection (unfortunately not present in every town)
- The local "canile" (kennels - see the "Useful numbers" section)
- The local "gattili" (same as a kennel but for cats - see the "Useful numbers" section)
- The "gattare" (which are people who feed and follow groups of stray cats)
- The "vigili" - Police Station
- The Fire Department
- Local radio and television stations
- Shops selling pet food and pet accessories
- Supermarkets
- Shopping centres
- Schools (Children spend a lot of time outside and see things that adults often miss!)
- Chemist's shops
- Churches
- Post offices
- Banks
- The "centro anziani" (places where elder people gather to spend time together)
- The bus service (notify all bus drivers)
- It is unfortunate to say but you should also IMMEDIATELY contact the cleansing department.
It is also a great help to contact the local newspaper. Address your letter to the Director. Very often it happens that the newspaper is willing to publish your lost pet ad free of charge.
And of course we ask you to post your lost pet ad here on: www.animalipersieritrovati.org. The good success and usefulness of this site depends especially on you! Therefore, help us spread the news and the information of this website.
Please be aware that you may receive some unwelcome telephone calls from cruel people who want to make a game of your feelings. It does not happen very often but if it should just ignore the call and simply hang up the telephone! If it happens again contact the police and the phone provider. Contact the police especially if somebody calls you "offering" the exchange of your lost pet for money!
Proper people normally return a pet to its legitimate family without asking for anything in return, but unfortunately not every one is proper. If someone does demand money for your pet's return, stay calm and take the time to memorize the phone number. Tell the person that you will call them back to be sure it is not a joke. Immediately contact the police and have them join you to meet the person who is blackmailing you and let the police deal with them.
How to conduct your search
Apart from checking your home and garden thoroughly, also inspect
the following places close to your home:
- Courtyard
- Cellar
- Heating room
- Hallways
- Attic
- Roofs and roof-terraces (without risking your neck! Your pet needs you alive and kicking!)
- Abandoned buildings (always without risking your safety. If you get in trouble it will be your fault and you will have to answer to any damages!)
- Depots and garages
- Construction sites (after you have asked permission to access to the construction site chief)
- Public gardens
- Private gardens (after you have asked the owners to access their property)
Be aware that small pets are commonly stolen by gypsies. Especially in Rome there seems to ne a group of gypsies specialized in stealing campers of foreign tourists whether your animal is on board or not. During the summer of 2004 many campers were stolen by this band and many pets disappeared forever with the exception of one which was miraculously found after nine months.
So do NEVER leave you pet on board and if you believe that your pet may
have been stolen produce fliers immediately and ask the camp guardians if
you can display the fliers at the campground entrances.
The biggest gypsy camps in Rome can be found in the following places:
- La Monachina - Casal Lumbroso - Km. 13 Aurelia
- Ponte Galeria c/o Alitalia Palace - left hand to the Km. 31 of the "Raccordo Anulare" Highway
- Casal Bertone - Piazza Crivelli
- Tiburtina Railway Station
- Ponte Marconi District - Via Vasca Navale
- Trionfale District - Santa Maria della Pietà
- Ponte Milvio
- Via di Salone
- Prenestina - out of the GRA
- Prenestina close to ex SNIA facilities
- Centocelle - Via delle Camelie
When you are looking for a pet, call it repeatedly with a firm voice but do not count on it to come running to you. An animal, which has lost itself, usually is frightened and does not behave as it usually does when at home or in a familiar environment. It will not necessarily answer your call. Therefore you must return to the same places, because you have to regain your pet's trust!
Remember that hunger and night may be precious allies to find your lost pet.
Place your pet's favourite food close to your home. Check the food bowls regularly and refill these bowls if you should find them empty. Who empties them by night, could be just the pet you are looking after.
When you are looking after your pet, try to make familiar noises, such as the sound of a bunch of keys or anything else that will remind the pet of its home environment.
Also take advantage of performing your search during the early
morning hours or in the evening, when the car noise is not too
loud and damps down your voice and your ears.
When walking around always carry the following items with you:
- A good flashlight
- A mobile phone- charged!
- Flyers
- A pen and paper to take notes
And once you have found each other?
Go immediately to the veterinarian for a through check up. If your pet is
not already registered, go to the ASL/Anagrafe Canina and immediately register
your pet. If the tattoo is not legible, have it refreshed, ask your vet
to place a microchip (electronic identification code) and make your animal
wear a collar with a nameplate, reporting its name and at least one phone
number.
For cats, do not use the hanging nametags, but the curved metal plates instead.
These may be engraved and sewn directly on the cat's collar. If you do not
succeed in finding these nameplates, please contact our staff.
How to behave when you have found a pet, which is evidently lost
Once you have spotted your pet, the most banal but most important advice: try not to loose sight of it!
Of course this is not that easy, especially if you are looking after a cat running away under some parked cars or after some small bird rushing from one chimney to another.
Ask for help without screaming and without getting anxious: you would uselessly frighten the pet you have found and you would be incomprehensible to those who you have called by for help.
If you get close, do it in a calm way, without any too quick or to slow movement.
Try to have with some pet food, a collar with a leash, and a cage.
If the pet is injured call the Vigili (one of the three Italian police corps) or your veterinarian and do NOT touch the pet. As with humans, also an animal may have severe, internal injuries and clumsy attempts of removal may have life threatening consequences. Talk to the animal with a calm and firm voice, trying to reassure it.
Always inform everybody that you have found a pet, even if it is yours, contacting those you have told about your missing pet (see again the above list).
Warning:
The Italian Government, in order to avoid the illegal take-over of pets,
advises that the first reference to contact in case you should find a pet
is the headquarters of the urban Vigili who will contact
the local institutions, which are in charge of catching the pet.
Theoretically it would therefore not be possible to "do alone"
but luckily enough, in Italy we have unwritten rules shared by people with
common sense. What is really important to do is to declare the pet
you have picked up immediately or within the shortest time to the
urban Vigili, the veterinarians, or the local institutions in charge of
collecting such information. Finally, it is important that you bring the
pet you have found to a veterinarian for a thorough check up.
According to the condition you will find your pet or somebody else's pet, you should ALWAYS bring it to a doctor: do this as soon as you can, within the first week of finding it. It is common knowledge that many of the lost and found animals would have returned home more easily and quicker if they had been brought to a veterinarian. The visit the animal undergoes, is often free of charge and is necessary to check the general health conditions and to track down its family (always hoping that the family itself has declared its missing pet to the veterinarians and that the animal has been identified with a tattoo and/or microchip).
A lost animal may have contracted some infective diseases. It may have swallowed harmful objects attempting its health and life, it may need to be rehidratated. Some of these factors, if not immediately recognized, may be fatal for the pet itself but also for human beings.
Not to bring a pet to a veterinarian is IRRESPONSIBLE behaviour!
In case you should have found a pet which is not yours and you should decide to take care personally, try to find its family in agreement with the vet, using the flyer technique (look at the "Poster and Fliers" section), this site and following the advice given in the above chapters.
Once you have found the family make sure it is really the right one! It is incredible to say but not everyone who claims a pet is its legitimate owner... or is really interested in its destiny. The accidental loss of a pet is something that may occur also to people who really love their animal but we want to avoid to help you helping people who have premeditatedly and purposely abandoned animals (think of what happens in summer time!) or who mistreat them, or people who are even seeking easy prays for illegal animal combats.
An easy control test is putting specific questions regarding morphological details about the animal you have found. The REAL pet owner should be able to show you a health card (which is regularly given to every animal after its first vaccination by a credited veterinarian) and must be able to describe special details of its pet, i.e.: the colour of the auricles, of the eyes or of the paws' fingertips. If you are not absolutely sure, fix an appointment at your veterinarian where you and the presumed owner will meet.
Once you have found your own pet, remember to inform everybody you contacted, TAKE AWAY ALL FLYERS, and be sure to reimburse the family for any expenses your pet may have cost them while they cared for your lost pet.
A last advice for cat owners: provide your cats with a collar bearing a nameplate, engraved with the NAME of your cat and a PHONE NUMBER! We are doing our best to actively sponsor a general pet registry but we invite all real cat lovers to protect the safety of their animals supplying them with a collar.
This collar (which has to be always anti-strangle in order that your pet may tear it off in case of danger) has to be tight: only one finger has to pass between the neck and he collar itself.
And when a story eventually ends well: NEVER forget to share your joy and to thank all those who have helped, in one way or another, at the happy conclusion. Be generous with those who have helped you reunite with your lost pet.