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What to do if you lose your dog? (from www.irishanimals.com)
Contact the following authorities/person: |
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The Dog Warden |
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Dogs found straying & with no identity disc will be lifted by the dog warden and taken to the pound. They will generally be kept there for only five days. Please ensure that **all** your local pounds know that your dog is missing & better still leave a photo with them.
Stay in touch with them every day.
There is a list of all the pounds we know of in Ireland here.
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Garda Stations |
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Leave your name, phone number and a description of your dog with the Garda Stations nearest to you (in the surrounding region as well).
When anyone, including rescue centres finds a dog, they should inform the Garda. Do keep in touch with them every few days as things get lost from shift to shift. |
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Veterinary Surgeries, Kennels & Rescue Centres |
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Stray dogs are often taken to vets, boarding kennels or rescue centres. Check with the golden pages for a list of the ones in your locality and ask each one you ring for the name of another (they may not all be listed in the book). |
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Other things that will help:
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Put up posters |
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Put up posters offering a reward (don't say how much) for the return of your pet, include a photo if at all possible. Place them in markets, take aways, vets & doctors surgeries, bus stops and anywhere that people gather.
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Go to places that you regularly walked your dog. |
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He/she may have just decided to take himself for a walk (you should have a secure garden - rectify this if you don't!!) |
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Please remember that it is the law to have a collar and an ID disc on your dog.
You can actually be fined EUR100 on the spot for not having one. 60% of the dogs which are taken in by shelters are strays and because they have no ID and they have little or no chance of being reunited with their owners. |
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| What to do if you've found a dog? (from www.irishanimals.com) |
| You have a number of options when you find a dog: |
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You can contact your local pound who will come and pick up the dog. The dog will then be given 5 days before being pts to find a new home. |
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You can take the dog home with you or find someone who will keep the dog with them for a short or long period of time and try to re-home the dog yourself once you have tried exhaustivly to find their previous home |
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Place an ad in the lost and found section of www.irishanimals.com - several vets will direct you towards this site if you ring up about a lost or found dog. |
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You should also try to get the dog to a vet to scan him for a microchip (usually free of charge), and check his ears for tattoos. |
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Ring up local vets in the area and leave a description of the dog along with a contact phone number. If you ring one vet then ask them for the number of other vets in the area. |
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Bring the dog walking in the area that he was found in, in case anyone might recognise him/her. |
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Place an ad in the Evening Herald which is free of charge at 7055444 |
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Make up posters and put them up around the area that the dog was found in. |
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| Irish Control of Dogs Act 1986 |
13.—(1) Any person, other than a dog warden or a member of the Garda Síochána, who finds and takes possession of a stray dog shall, forthwith—
( a ) return the dog to its owner, or
( b ) deliver the dog to a dog warden, or
( c ) detain the dog and give notice in writing containing a description of the dog, the address of the place where it was found, and the address of the place where it is detained to the member in charge at the nearest Garda Station to the place where the dog was found, or to a dog warden.
Sometimes it might be better to contact more than one Garda station as the dog may have strayed a good bit from home.
If you take the dog in you can keep it for 28 days without a licence, then the animal must be licenced and if you decide to keep/rehome the dog, ownership of the dog is not yours until a year and a day have passed. This does NOT apply to dogs adopted/rescued from pounds, only those taken in as strays. |
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| Tips from readers |
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Search everywhere especially open spaces where the dog is walked. If anyone in the locality has taken the dog in they still have to walk them. |
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Report your missing dog to local Gardai. |
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Phone the Dog Pound (every day) |
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Visit all neighbouring houses in the locality. |
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Stop everyone with a dog to ask them to watch out. |
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Place ad in local papers (eg Northside News, Citywide) |
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If you are lucky and find your dog remember to take the notices down, inform and thank those who helped in the search. |
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If you have other dogs, bring them out with you when you are looking for the lost one - they will smell their housemate much sooner than you will see him/her, and they will leave a scent that may help the lost animal to find their way back. |
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Don't give out a landline number on any poster or flyer that will be seen by the general public. Always use a mobile number (two if possible, one could be off), and/or specify a Garda station or vet surgery that people can contact with details (be sure that the vet/Guards know that you are doing
this!). |
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Expect hoax calls - "there are some nasty people out there - but follow everything up nonetheless. You could try leaving out one particular piece of information about your animal from the poster/flyer, just to check if the person calling has actually seen him/her." If someone asks you to collect the animal from an address, don't go alone...just in case. |
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