What To Do If A Greyhound Does Get Loose

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What to do if a greyhound does get loose

This article is based in very large part on a list posted to the GREYHOUND-L mailing list by Lee Lavery, of Greyhound Guardians Inc., Indiana, in November 1998.

HOW TO LOOK FOR A LOOSE GREYHOUND

Before you do ANYTHING - call your adoption group - they want to help you. Rope in your friends, neighbours, colleagues, family, whoever you can. If each of your daughter's friends spends ten minutes putting up posters and telling everyone they know - then that's a lot of posters, and a lot of people! Even if they can just lend a torch or a lead, or mind your house for ten minutes, or ring a couple of numbers, everyone can help.

1. Make sure all volunteers have a correct address & phone number of where the dog got loose from.

2. Call the local dog warden, dog homes, and local police to report the missing dog.

3.Send out search units of 2-3 people in all four (north, south, east & west) directions. Greyhounds have a tendency to run in circles - just because they headed one direction doesn't mean they haven't doubled back in the opposite direction.

4. Each search unit should take an area approx. 1/2 mile square. STAY IN YOUR AREA. The dog might not be there the first 5 times you go down the street, but he very well may be there on trip #6.

5. Each search unit should have a collar and lead, some dog treats, and a torch. If you can take a dog along too, especially a greyhound, that can help - some dogs are less nervous of people who have canine accompaniment.

5. Check alleys, outside restaurants, cafes, supermarkets and burger vans, any place where the dog may be able to find food.

6. If you spot the dog & he appears to be spooked (even a friendly dog can get scared after being loose), walk away from him, or lay down on the ground, and call him gently. Sudden movements will send him running again.

8. If you don't find the dog, make sure you leave food & water outside. Also leave a familiar blanket out so that he will know "this" is home should he find his way back. Leave the gate open so he can get in. Set your alarm & check outside every hour.

The Next Day

1. Put up posters everywhere you can. Make sure you offer a reward, but do not specify the amount. Describe the dog, but do not give its tattoo numbers; or, if it is not tattooed, leave out a detail of the description. This way, if someone rings up claiming to have the dog, you can check whether they really do have them or not.

Places to put up posters:

* local shops
* dog homes and animal shelters
* on dog-walking routes
* pubs and social clubs
* community centres
* libraries
* local doctors' surgeries
* give one to the postie to put up in the local depot
* give one to the council maintenance workers to put up in their depot
* similarly try to get posters put up in the local depots for the gas company, the electricity company, the water company, and the buses.
* supermarkets
* petrol stations
* swimming pools and leisure centres
* local notice boards
* the notice boards in people's places of work
* golf courses and/or any other large open areas
* any nearby higher and further education institutions and halls of residence
* local army/navy/airforce bases (sometimes the planes fly very low... and tanks can go places normal cars can't)

2. Put ads in local newspapers & on the local radio stations.

3. Get the search units going again. We have found dogs that have been lost for more than 3 days by searching every day.

4. Call local vet clinics and alert them that your dog is missing. Ask them to put up a poster too.

5. Ask all the local schools to make an announcement at assembly, and put up a poster somewhere.

6. Ask the local places of worship to make announcements at their main weekly service and to put up a poster

8. Have the local cable TV stations make announcements.

9. Ask local gamekeepers, riding clubs, and ramblers clubs to keep an eye out for the dog

10. Ask the members of dog training and agility classes to keep an eye out - even if it is just a friend, not you, who attends them!

10. Ask everyone to check sheds, garages and outbuildings. Go round local farms and ask if you or they can check their farms and outbuildings.

11. Check the cemeteries and parks. Both places can offer shelter, bins to plunder, and sheds and outhouses to shelter in.

12. If your dog is a registered (tattooed) greyhound, ring the RGT to tell them it is missing.

13. Ring back dog homes every couple of days. They can sometimes be overwhelmed and may not always check descriptions of missing dogs when one comes in. The same goes for the kennels where the local dog warden takes stray dogs when they are first found.

Things You Can Do To Prepare For The Times When Dogs Get Lost

Make sure your adoption group has a "drop & run" list. These are volunteers you can call who will, literally, drop what they're doing and run out to look for a dog. If your adoption group doesn't have a list, offer to set one up for them.

Set up a "calling tree" so that one person doesn't have to waste time calling in reinforcements. Once again, if your group doesn't have one - offer to set one up.

Make sure everyone on the "drop & run" list carries an emergency kit. This should include first aid supplies, collars & leads, torches, doggie treats and a blanket. Mobile phones and/or pagers too, if they have them.

Make sure everyone in your group knows what they should do if their greyhound gets lost.

I know that not everyone has an adoption group close to them. Seek out other greyhound owners in your town & form a support group of your own. Besides helping find lost dogs, you can share information, dog-sitting services and new ideas.

Thanks (again) to Lee Lavery of Greyhound Guardians in the States for posting the original version of this.

If you have any suggestions to make with respect with this webpage, please send them to:

Please mail suggestions or comments about this version to: Maria Hamilton (mailto:maria@gurk.co.uk)

this page last edited 24 March 2002