Make a Go File Before Your Pet Goes Missing
Last night, one of my favorite dogs in the world ran off after a coyote. When his owner messaged me to let me know, I started driving that way, but I couldn’t remember the exact address. It was somewhere in my phone, but I didn’t want to stop driving long enough to try to figure out where I had that information. Also, I knew I had the phone number, but we almost always talk through messenger, so it would have taken me a few moments to try to dig up that information to share with other searchers. When a dog is missing, jumping into action quickly can make a big difference in whether the dog is found. I wasn’t even half way there when I got the call that this sweet dog was found, safe and unharmed. It got me thinking that people ought to make a file for each of their pets before they go missing, so that type of information can be readily available in an emergency.
What would I recommend putting in a Go File and who should you give that file to? First and foremost, it should include two to five pictures that are of the highest quality and clarity. One picture should show the face of your dog or cat. This picture should be well lit, crystal clear and sharp, with the highest resolution possible. On an iPhone, you can shoot in RAW mode, which doesn’t compress the picture. The picture above is 28 megabytes. That’s larger than most email would accept but you can share it in the cloud. The second picture should show the whole body of your dog or cat, preferably standing. These first two pictures should be fairly recent, within the last year at least, because a pet’s appearance can change over time. You could also include up to three other pictures that are closeups of specific details that would identify your dog or cat distinctly from any other similar dog or cat. This might be a spot on the chest or the color pattern on the tail or ears. If you don’t already have pictures clearly showing these details, you can take them now. If you have a dog or cat with zero distinguishing features, such as a black Labrador or a black cat, you could take a closeup picture of the nose, which would show the noseprint, which is as unique as a human fingerprint. Take a moment to curate or create these 2-5 pictures and place them in a folder on your phone or computer.
For the text portion of the file, what should you include? This would contain specific information that you wouldn’t want to necessarily just post in public, but that you might want to share if your pet was lost.
Your name:
Your pet’s name:
Phone number:
Email address:
Home address:
Microchip number:
Pet’s weight:
Pet’s birth date, if known, or approximately when:
Breed, if known, or if relevant:
Preferred veterinarian:
Alternate contact name and phone number:
Then you can include a paragraph or two describing some other details that could be relevant if your pet was missing. You could say, for example, that your dog loves to play with other dogs, and would probably approach one. You could describe the walking route you take every day. Is your cat always gregarious with new people, or would he hide under the bed if a stranger came to visit? Is your cat indoor only, or outdoor access? Does your dog have dietary restrictions or does he take medications daily? Does your dog like to jump into cars to go for a ride, or hate to get into cars? Do you have a black Lab who is very likely to be found at the nearest body of water? Do you have an unusual cat that always tries to get into any body of water to swim? Has your cat been known to climb trees? Is your cat a hunter? Does your dog have a high prey drive?
Before your cat or dog goes missing, I hope you will take the time to read one of the guides to finding your lost pet, on the Three Retrievers web page. Cats. Dogs. These guides include a series of questions I would ask if you contacted us for help finding your lost pet. You can think about these questions when your are writing your paragraphs about your pet for your Go File. If a cat or dog is new to your home, then you should definitely read these guides as soon as you can. Even if you have had a dog or cat for years, and they have never disappeared, you should still read the articles and make a Go File. If you are planning a trip or vacation, when you pets will be in the custody of someone else, then you absolutely must make a Go File to give to several people. I never travel because I don’t have time to, but also I will never travel because that’s when peoples’ pets go missing. I’m only ever going to travel anywhere if I can take all of my dogs with me. Also, I could spend the rest of my life exploring wilderness within a day’s drive of home and never run out of new places to see. If you travel because you need to or because you really enjoy travel, you definitely must make a Go File for each of your pets.
Who should you give this file to? At least a couple of trusted people, friends or family, but someone who is probably not going to be with you when your cat or dog goes missing. The idea is that if your pet is missing and you are actively focused on finding him or her, you want to immediately hand off certain responsibilities to a trusted third party. Also, you may be out of reach, traveling or in the mountains, without access to your usual networks. Think of two or three people who would drop everything they were doing and focus only on helping you find your lost pet. This person can call other people, post on social media, check shelters, and sort through found pet postings while you are actively searching. It’s important that your trusted contacts are organized and technologically competent so that they can find and access this file that you hope will never be needed. If the only person you trust with this information is your grandmother who doesn’t have a computer, you could mail her a packet with a couple of pictures and a printout of the file, but obviously that’s not ideal.
The dog that went missing last night was a dog I didn’t think I would ever have to worry about. It was a very unusual situation, something that I couldn’t have anticipated. I would never expect Valentino to go missing. One situation that is slightly plausible would be if I was in an auto accident. I have never been in an accident that was my fault in all of my years of driving. I have been in several accidents that were the fault of the other driver. Just recently, I have been cut off by several people every week, so now I just assume that the other driver is going to be dangerous. It is very unlikely I will be in a car accident, but it is possible that some maniac could cross the centerline and hit us head on, and Tino could run from the scene of the accident. I am going to share a Go File with a few trusted people, just in case.
Another item you want to have ready before your pet goes missing is a scent article that is in the freezer in a plastic bag, labeled. Such a scent item could be used by a search dog like Tino, to track your lost pet. Up until now, I have only ever recommended that you keep such an item in your own freezer. It now occurs to me that it would be wise to have duplicate scent items in someone else’s freezer. I am going to make up a scent item for each of my dogs, put each in a ziplock bag, labeled, and then put all five of them in a ziplock bag, labeled. If you squeeze the air out, this packet with the scents of all your pets will be very thin and take up almost no room in your friend’s freezer. I will give this to a trusted person so she can have it in her freezer, and also she can give me a ziplock bag with scents of her dog and cat. This way, a search dog can be used even if we can’t get access to the pet owner’s house, if, for example, the house burns down or they are on a trip.
Think of it as disaster preparedness, except that this disaster is much more likely than a catastrophic earthquake. We know the big one is going to come, but we just don’t know when. Statistically, it is likely one of your pets will go missing at some point in his or her life. You should take loss prevention measures to minimize that risk, but you should also share a Go File for just in case, and swap frozen scent items with someone you trust.
If one of my dogs ever goes missing, I hope an entire army of volunteers would come forward to help find him or her. It would make things so much easier if I had a designated Incident Commander with all of the necessary information to get help to the right place at the right time immediately.
Please share this article with a friend, or the owners of your favorite dogs and cats, so more pets can be protected in case they go missing.
How to make a scent article, included in this video on loss prevention.
https://vimeo.com/686817218
Great article. I will do this for my cat, who lives inside, BUT could potentially go missing in case of emergency, house fire, being cared for by someone else. This also was a good reminder for me to update my scent items in the freezer, and photos. This is like my Insurance. Good to have but hope you never need it…Thanks Jim