Laura Totis
Name: Laura Totis
Age: 47
Title: Pet tracker and owner of LJT Pet Tracking and LJT Training
How long have you been tracking pets?
I started officially doing it back in 2002.
Describe what a pet tracker does.
For the most part we can help people find their pets just with a phone consultation or some Internet advice. Making posters, figuring out the logistics, what exactly happened with the animal missing, some personality factors that would affect what may help or hinder recovering the pet. We sometimes end up bringing in a search dog but that's just one little tool in the whole process. If we do that, then we need an article that smells like the animal so we can tell the dog what we're looking for.
Do you generally track in a suburban, city or rural setting?
Sadly, animals are lost in all kinds of settings. I've had searches in New York City, and I've had searches out in wilderness parks.
What's the success rate?
I always tell people, for a "walk-up find" the success rate runs about 20 percent. That's where we go out, we find the animal, we pick them up and take them home. Sadly, that's generally cases where the animal's incapacitated and they're not moving. Occasionally we'll get lucky where we place the owner in the right place and they call their pet and they come out to them. When I first started the recovery rate was right around 50 or 60 percent. Now I think it's closer to 80 or even more for people who actually get their pets back.
Are the animals generally found within a certain range of their own home?
That's kind of a loaded question! It depends on a lot of mitigating circumstances. For example, an indoor-only house cat that got out one day, they're usually found within three yards of where they disappeared. You don't necessarily need a tracking dog. But a sight hound or something, those dogs can cover miles in just a few minutes. For the most part, a puppy who just got out of the yard and he's just running around the neighborhood, chances are good if he's a friendly little dog he's going to be picked up by someone who goes by. As long as he's got identification, the dog comes home. On the other hand, if you've got a real skittery or afraid dog that came out in a blind panic, he may not stop running for miles.
When a pet first goes missing, what should a pet owner do?
The knee-jerk response is to get out there and look for it. With cats, make sure they're really missing. I can't tell you how many lost-cat searches we've had where it turns out the cat was actually in a cupboard or locked into the basement Do the obvious things first. Do quick checks. Make sure all the immediate neighbors know. Contact animal control in case somebody does pick him up right away. Call your vet. If it goes on and he's not right in the obvious places, then the next thing you want to do is start getting the message to the community because, again, especially for fairly friendly animals, they're going to be seen by somebody. I would say posters and fliers are the number-one way animals get recovered. Twitter, blogging, and Facebook have made a big difference. The whole [social media] thing has added a very different component to finding a lost pet.
So when do they call you in?
I've had people call me within a few hours. I've had people call within the first couple of days. It's like a lost-person search -- my background comes from searching for lost people -- so when you start going through the characteristics of what happened and why it happened, some are high-priority emergencies. If you call and say my dog is confused and he's old and he's got epilepsy and a heart condition and he just disappeared out of the yard that he hasn't left in 18 years, then I'm putting my dog in the car and we're going to come look for that dog right now.
What's the strangest thing you've been called out for?
We got called out for a skunk search once! I had an old lady call me in the middle of the night for a lost bunny rabbit, and I said "I've got a beagle I'm doing the searching with -- he'll pay you to do a rabbit search." Interestingly that rabbit came when she called it.
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Its nice that there is someone out there to help find lost pets. Our cat went missing for a week and we were so devastated and we put up fliers around our apartment complex, turned out someone had taken her and they knew she belonged to us. Point of the story.....Never let your cats be indoor/outdoor. Now she stays in and never goes out again.....
This is a good reason why you should microchip your pet......
This world is to dangerous for cats to be roaming.....I agree ,keep them in unless you take the time to go out with them....Its better not to get them used to it because then they don't want to go out.
The most important advice I can add is to not give up. I lost a dog and got her back OVER A YEAR later. The reason why it took so long is that I had put posters in all the vet office, but many people take their pets only once a year for the annual shots. Thankfully, the vet hadn't taken down my poster and a woman saw it and called me. She said that all the neighbors had been putting food out for the dog at various times, but the dog would not get close to them. My "Princess" didn't even recognize me when I got there and when she ran into the lake and started swimming away,I followed and so did my other dog. Well, she recognized him and then me and it was such a tearfully wonderful reunion!
How good are those GPS collars they make for dogs? We have a little Jack Russell mix who has "wanderlust." We got him from the shelter, and they had nicknamed him "the escape artist," because he actually managed to get out a couple of times there. We've had him microchipped. And he wears his collar with i.d. tag and license and rabies tag at all times. But I'm still concerned. We try to be very careful whenever we're coming in or leaving the house to make sure he doesn't get out the door. But he still gets out occasionally. So I've been considering a GPS collar for him. I'd like to know if anyone has used one or knows how good they are.
My Mom does dog rescue. After checking the pet is not in the basement or other hiding spots in the house she suggest
1. put up posters
2. contact your postal carriers (they go door to door)
3. contact the garbage men. Not much gets past them
4. contact the local shelters. Go in EVERY day to check
5. contact all the local vets. call every day
6.make a report with the police and CALL EVERY day.
trtltrtl0221 is so right. Cats need to be indoors-only in societies like this one. Keep your cats SAFE! and yes, a breakaway safety collar with an ID tag is also a must, even if your cat is safe inside.
Some other tips are to ask your neighbors if any one has had a shed or garage open in the time that the cat was missing. Leave a note in the mail box for your mail carrier. Put your cats litterbox outside and food and water if possible. Never call for a cat that is strictly an indoor cat-they will be scared. Talk in a normal voice. Don't use a flash light - a lot of cats are afraid of them. Never run towards the cat, sit down and let them come to you, especially an indoor cat. Go out at night when it is quiet and sit and talk and talk !!!
As a former ACO and rescue worker so many wonderful dogs end up in shelters with no identification tags or microchips . I always tried to find the owners especially if the dog is well cared for to the point where one golden that had been recently "shaved" I called all the groomers and vets in the area. My daughter and I ended up adopting a dog a few years ago and we spent countless hours trying to find his owners as he was well behaved, good body weight and well groomed. He had a brand new collar on but no tags. We still believe he was someone's much loved dog but he does like to escape and go for a run and knows how to open gates and storm doors if not locked. Once when he got out even thou he had a collar and tags a woman who recently lost her dog picked him up and took him home. She never called us or the ACO to report finding the dog it was sheer luck that we heard him barking when we were out looking for him later that evening and had to confront the woman who had him. So knowing someone can help you track your dog is nice to know.
Last fall two small dogs were on my road and nearly were run over by first a truck, then a speeding car. I tried to get them but they ran into the corn field across the road. I had to leave for an appt. and got my dog and headed for my car. The two dogs suddenly came right up to me apparently attracted by my dog. They both had no collars or I.D. & looked dirty, scruffy & hungry, as though they had been loose for days. I put them into a carrier, went to the two closest neighbors to ask if they knew where these little house dogs belonged. Nobody knew. I had to go so I dropped them off at the animal shelter trying to keep them safe from harm. The owners came to my home late that night and were furious that I took them there. That was on a fri. and on Sunday morning, we woke up to our property being completely covered in toilet paper, my husbands truck wrapped in cellophane as well as the mailbox, after being squirted with mustard and balony stuck to the truck & kitchen windows, other windows sprayed with shaving cream then showered with powdered sugar; sugar and mustard on the sidewalks and deck. All this because these irresponsible pet owners didn't take care of their little dogs! No good deed goes unpunished I guess.
My daughters Himalayan house cat jumped out an unscreened window in the middle of the night leaving no clue what direction he headed. The cat was not spotted for 29 days! We posted signs nearby and distributed flyers on porches.
Signs don't stay up for long. Kids,wind, and zoning officials will rip them down. So repost after 5 or 6 days and expand the coverage area. Concentrate in areas where the cat may find food and water. Someone walking a dog saw our sign, with a picture of the cat, spotted the cat going into a back yard and called us with the address. We found him sleeping near a garden hose very close to where there had been a church bazzar a week earlier. We also had ads in the local papers and Craigs List. We discovered many people, we did not know, had seen both ads and were keeping a watchfull eye. Be aggressive and don't give up. Bye the way the cat was very healthy despite loosing a lot of weight and a minor cut. He has slowly put weight back on and is happy to be home with his brother.