TERRE HAUTE — Nearly 16,000 Vigo County School Corp. students now have an opportunity to help reconnect lost pets and their owners.
The new initiative, called Rally to the Rescue, is a partnership involving the Terre Haute Humane Society, Terre Haute Police Department animal control division and Vigo County School Corp.
Starting this week, schools will display Humane Society posters of lost animals that have been taken to the shelter. The hope is that students might recognize some of the pets, which can then be united with their owners.
The first poster was displayed Wednesday at Sarah Scott Middle School, where officials discussed the new initiative.
“The Humane Society is a great community service. If there is anything we can do to re-unite lost pets with their owners, we’re happy to do it,” said Ray Azar, school district director of student services.
Fred Strohm, a volunteer with the Humane Society, designs the posters, and new ones will be put up each week at all VCSC schools, both city and county.
Jerry Arney, city animal control officer, said it’s frustrating when he and officer Tim Manley “pick up wonderful pets that have been well taken care of” but must take them to the shelter because they can’t identify the owners. “We know they belong to someone,” Arney said.
This week, the poster features six animals currently at the shelter — five dogs and one cat. Among them are a Labrador retriever mix found Nov. 30 in the 1500 block of Maple Avenue as well as a terrier/pit bull mix found Nov. 5 in the 1500 block of South 12th Street.
The poster has identifying information, including breed, gender, color, size, intake date and location found.
The location where an animal is found can be deceiving, Arney said. “We’ve had them go from the north end all the way down to I-70 before,” he said. Most times dogs stay in the general area where they live.
The poster also provides telephone numbers that children or adults can call if they know the pet’s owner. The contacts are the Humane Society at (812) 232-0293 or Animal Control at (812) 244-2258.
If children know where an animal belongs, they or an adult need to contact the Humane Society or Animal Control right away, Arney said.
After five days, the animal legally belongs to the Humane Society and it might be put up for adoption or sent to a distant rescue program.
Arney said it’s also important that if people believe their pets might be at the shelter, “They need to go out there and look because it’s hard to give a description over the phone.”
The posters will change weekly.
The shelter currently has 98 dogs and at least 50 cats, said Monica Fries, kennel manager.
If code enforcement is contacted about an animal whose owner is identified, “We’ll even drive by the house and knock on the door and say your dog is at the shelter — you need to go and pick it up,” Arney said.
The Vigo County Sheriff’s Department also is part of the program, he said.
The best thing pet owners can do to help them retrieve lost or missing animals is to have the pets microchipped, Strohm said.
That can be done at the Humane Society for $35, said Fries said, who noted the shelter does re-unite pets and owners “quite a bit.”
Recently, someone brought in a lost dog, which was re-united with its owner after the dog had been missing for three years. The identification was possible because the dog has a microchip, Fries said.
The owner “was ecstatic,” she said.
The Humane Society intends to raise funds for the poster initiative, Fries said.
Sarah Scott Principal Mark Miller said several students at the school have adopted animals from the shelter or volunteer at the shelter.
“We’re happy to be part of this program,” he said.
The school now has a rescue dog in one of its classrooms.
Last summer, special education assistant Tonya Shattuck and her family cared for two abandoned puppies that had been taken to the shelter.
Later, Sarah Scott teacher Jennifer Richards adopted one of the puppies, Lucie, which she uses with her special needs students.
Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.
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Schools to display Humane Society posters in hope of reconnecting pets, owners
Posters provide pet ID info, location where animal found
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