Searching your neighbors’ properties with a cat-detection dog.

Safety is our highest priority.

How we manage private property when searching for a lost cat

Mu has found more than 300 lost cats in 11 years of searching.  At least 100 of those cats were found on private property within 400 feet of the cat’s home.  Our goal, when Mu conducts a search, is to check all the hiding places within the zone where cats are found most often.  They hide under sheds and decks.  They hide in engine compartments and crawl spaces.  Sometimes, the cat did not survive, and Mu has found remains or evidence of an attack in at least 100 cases, usually on private property within that 400 foot range.   The owners of private property are happy to let the search dog check, at least 90% of the time.  Usually, in any neighborhood, there are one or two property owners who do not want the search dog on their property, for unspecified reasons.  I always try to respect property rights. In the few instances where we ended up on someone’s property without permission, due to a misunderstanding about permission or uncertainty about the property line, we have left immediately if someone asked.

Today, Mu was interested in checking a property where the cat’s owner had not yet gotten permission.  She went to the door to knock, and ask permission.  No one answered.  It didn’t seem that anyone was home.  I did cross his lawn, in his unfenced yard, and technically I did not have permission. We weren’t conducting a search; we were just going to and from his door, to try to get permission.  I am clearly marked with LOST PET RESCUE in bold letters on the back of my jacket, and my company logo on the front.  Mu wears a vest that says SEARCH on it.  There were posters up all over the neighborhood, about the lost cat.  The neighbors had been notified of the search through NextDoor. As we were leaving the property, a man threw open the door and demanded we get off his property.  He insinuated he had a gun, the way he held one hand behind his back.  I told him we were leaving and we walked off his property right away.

Recently, several cases in the news have highlighted people being shot just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  A boy rang the doorbell at the wrong house, and he was shot through the door.  Someone drove down the wrong driveway by mistake, and a passenger in the car was shot while still in the car.  When I search with Mu or Tino, my number one priority is the safety of my dog.  A second priority is not getting injured or killed myself, mainly because I need to be around to take care of my dogs.  If I died, it could be a disaster for my dogs.  I have no idea where they would go or how they would be taken care of.  I advise everyone to have a plan for how their dogs would be taken care of in case they died, but I have no plan for my own dogs.  They aren’t the easiest dogs to care for, except for Fozzie.  Certainly no one would have the capacity to take all four of my dogs.  I really can’t afford to be shot and injured or killed by someone who is irate over their property rights.

When we go onto private property, it is obvious that our intent is to search for a lost cat.  Maybe someone could think it’s a ruse of some sort, that we would pretend to be searching for lost pets when we really intend to rob them.  I have never heard of such a scheme.  People don’t typically bring dogs along when they plan crimes. Further, I am 6’3” and wearing a one-of-a-kind, custom made jacket.  It’s not like anyone would have any trouble picking me out of a lineup if I actually was a criminal.  Also, even if I actually had any criminal intent, I would not get away with it.  I would get caught.  I see people getting away with breaking the rules every day.  If I ever did it, I know I would be caught because that’s just my luck.  One time, I was looking for a dog and I wanted to get on the freeway without driving a mile to the next entrance.  There was an entrance right by me, but I would have to sneak across the oncoming lane at an angle because a curb was blocking people from making the turn.  It would only take me a second to just zip over there, and no one was around.  As soon as I turned toward the on ramp, a cop came over the crest of the hill.  He pulled me over.  He let me off with a warning when I explained that I was looking for a lost dog.  Besides the fact that I would never get away with a crime, I just don’t have time for a criminal lifestyle.  I am swamped with work, and I can’t keep up with the requests even working 60 to 80 hours a week.  I’m too tired to be a criminal.  I guess a property owner might not know that, just by looking at me, but why would they jump to the conclusion that I had some sort of criminal intent?  My search dog has an orange vest and my jacket says LOST PET RESCUE; how does someone’s mind jump to some sort a conclusion that I am there to cause any type of harm?  If a Girl Scout selling thin mints knocks on their door, do they answer with a bazooka? (They probably should because those cookies will kill you.)

Our goal is to conduct a thorough search and find the lost cat.  It is never our intent to upset a property owner.  Also, getting shot would be counterproductive.  How should we manage getting permission?  The typical search for a cat covers 6 or 7 acres and takes 3 hours.  We are able to cover that area because the cat’s owner has asked for permission in advance.  If we had to stop at each property and ask for permission, we would not be able to cover the zone of highest likelihood very quickly or efficiently.  It would take a lot of extra time to talk to each property owner, and half of them wouldn’t even be home, probably.  So, we ask the owner of the lost cat to talk to their neighbors in that 400 foot radius and get permission before we come out to search.

If your cat is missing, and you would like a search dog to search that 400-foot radius zone where lost cats are most likely to be hiding, then you need to get permission from your neighbors.  This can be a daunting task in some neighborhoods if there are single family homes packed tightly together.  In a neighborhood such as Ballard, where the original lots were all subdivided and homes are packed together, there might be 60 or 70 individual homes within a typical 400-foot radius.  95% of those people would approve of a search dog coming through to look for a lost cat, but it is a challenge to catch them at home or get people to answer the door.

When you are getting permissions, I recommend you print out the map so that you can mark which properties say yes.  Also, bring fliers with you, to show to your neighbors.  If you ring the doorbell and you are holding a flier for a lost cat, it lets people know you aren’t selling something or soliciting votes.  People are more likely to answer the door if they know you are looking for your cat.  You can also bring along a version of your flier that talks about a search dog coming to the neighborhood.  This flier can be left behind if no one answers the door. You can include a few sentences asking the homeowner to call or text a number, or send an email, if it’s okay to search the property using the search dog.  Make sure to ask them to include their address when they leave a message.

Going door to door to ask permission for the search dog also gives you the opportunity to talk to people.  Things you should be asking them:

1. Have you seen my cat since the date he went missing?

2. Have you seen my cat coming around before he went missing?

3. Can you check your surveillance cameras for my cat?

4. Have you had any sheds or garage doors open, where my cat may have been trapped accidentally?

5. Do you know of any other cats missing in the neighborhood recently?

6. If you have cats, have they been acting differently lately?

In order to improve your chances of reaching people, try going in the evening when people are home from work.  Also, in many neighborhoods, there is one person who knows everyone.  Try to enlist that person’s help.  Post on NextDoor, the Neighbors app, and on any local Facebook groups, including a map of the proposed search area, asking people within the boundary to send you a message if it’s okay to search their property.  They should include the address when they reply.

When we do a search, of course we would want permission to search 100% of the properties.  Above 90% permissions would be great.  If you can only get 70% or fewer permissions, it could greatly reduce the effectiveness of the search dog.  We might skip over the property where the cat was hiding.

We would like to search all of the properties within the 400-foot radius.  If it is not practical to get permission from everyone, certain yards are a higher priority for the search.  Lost cats are more likely to hide in yards where:

--There is a lot of junk, possibly inoperable cars, old appliances, building materials, wood piles, and dilapidated structures.

--The home has a crawl space with screens missing.

--The yard is somewhat wild, with lots of shrubs to hide in.

--Vacant properties or unoccupied homes.

--Yards without dogs, although cats are sometimes found in yards with dogs.

Yards we could probably skip, if time is a factor:

--Highly manicured yards where gardening or landscaping activity would likely chase a cat away.

--Empty yards that have wide open lawns, no shrubs, no structures, and no junk.

--Yards where large dogs are out in the yard most of the day.

In fifteen years of searching for lost pets, my search dogs have searched for more than 2,000 lost cats and dogs.  The search dogs rely on permission to cross private property because lost pets almost always do, if they can.  Lost cats and dogs don’t walk down sidewalks and obey No Trespassing signs.  In the last 15 years, we have probably searched the private property of more than 6,000 homeowners.  90% of them were very welcoming and supportive of the search for the lost pet.  Probably fewer than 5% have been hostile to the search effort.  My dogs and I have been met by people with guns maybe a dozen times, which is a very small percentage of the properties where we have searched.  Still, the safety of my dogs is my highest priority, and I want to do everything I can to ensure their safety.

Maybe 20% of the time, the process of asking neighbors for permission to search for the lost pet has resulted in a tip that led to the cat or dog being found before the search dog was necessary.  Even in cases where you might not use the search dog, it is a good idea to talk to every property owner within a 400-foot radius of where your cat was last seen.

If you have any questions about preparing for the cat-detection dog to come to your neighborhood, please let me know.