What County Animal Services will do with a Stray Dog
In most cases, when people find stray dogs, the first thing they do is take them to an animal shelter, where they can be checked and possibly returned to their true owners.
Once the dogs have been taken to the shelter, they are registered in the lost and found database, which is a list that is supposed to contain all impounded or found animals. This list is meant to help people trace their lost dogs, and also help those that want to adopt these dogs. In most cases, the list is displayed on the county website, to make it easier for people to trace their pets. Searching on the internet is better than physically going to the shelter to look at the list.
At the shelter, the pets are also supposed to be checked and vaccinated where possible. This is because; there is likelihood that the stray dogs could have been infected with diseases while on the street. Therefore, they need to be thoroughly checked and treated before they are mixed with other animals at the shelter. When a stray dog is found and taken to the shelter, it will be taken to a veterinary doctor for a checkup and immunization.
Also, essential to note is that when the animal is taken to the shelter, it will be checked for any form of identification, which can help to trace for its owners if any. It will be checked for a collar or chip, which usually has information about its owners and where they can be found. If the dog is found to have this information, its owners will be contacted immediately and told that they can come and pick up their dog. On the other hand, if the information only has the name of the dog or some other form of identification, this will be listed on the database of the lost and found.
The shelter is supposed to be a temporary place where animals can be kept until they are returned to their owners. In case the stay dog has an owner and that the owner is either traced down, or if he traces down his dog through the lost and found database, he has a right to redeem his dog. The shelter, therefore, gives owners of pets the right to redemption. When a pet owner comes to redeem his pet, it has to be ensured that he is indeed the rightful owner. He will, therefore, be required to provide a photograph of the pet or vaccination history of the pet. In addition, he will also be asked to identify the place where the pet was lost. To verify the identity of the owner, he will be required to produce valid identification and must be above the age of eighteen.
For dogs that are not redeemed within a reasonable time, the shelter can give them out for adoption. Different county animal shelters have different adoption procedures and these are usually listed on their website. You can also get adoption information from the shelter offices.