By Arlene McClure of Dawsonville

In recent years a lot of publicity has been given to microchipping pets, “just in case they are lost or stolen.” Most rescue sites and adoption centers require ID chips, along with spaying or neutering before adoption.

The other half of the story is making the public aware of what should be done if a stray cat or dog is found. Realize that stray could be someone’s best friend. By the time a lost pet finds its way to your place, it could have been wandering around for days through woods and thickets without food or shelter, trying to find its way back home. It could easily be mistaken as being abused or abandoned. Meanwhile the owner is calling the Humane Society, local vets, and posting on Facebook looking for their pet.

I have been on both sides of this story. We live on a farm off a dirt road with lots of woods, a creek, pastures and old buildings that have provided shelter to countless lost or stray cats and dogs over many years. Now looking back on the many cats that have passed through here, it has occurred to me that I rarely called the shelter to see if the cat was someone’s missing pet. I assumed because of our location they were abandoned (as I am sure many of them were). A cat is by nature wary of strangers so even a lost pet might appear to be feral.  

Now that my cat is missing I realize some of those strays could have been lost pets and not abandoned. So, please, if a cat or dog finds its way to your home, call the Dawson County Humane Society at 706-265-9160 to let them know. One of your neighbors might be looking for it.