Each year tens of thousands of lost dogs enter Iowa shelters with many never being reclaimed or reunited with their families. That is why It Takes A Village Animal Rescue and Resources (ITAV), a Muscatine non-profit animal rescue and Best Friends Animal Society, a leading national animal welfare organization working to save the lives of dogs and cats in America’s shelters, have teamed up through September 30 for a “Return to Home” challenge.
“We know the need is there. The percentage of lost pets being reunited with their owners is decreasing, and we need to find the solution to that problem,” stated Meagan Koehler, President and Founder of It Takes A Village. “We are currently testing several different initiatives, to not only help owners find their pets, but to also empower the public “finders” of stray pets to locate the owners themselves. In addition to hopefully increasing reunification rates, this also allows lost pets to avoid the stressful shelter environment all together.”
Best Friends initiated the national “Return to Home” challenge to increase the number of lost dogs successfully reunited with their families. Throughout the month participating animal shelters will implement new operational practices in an effort to increase pet reunification in their communities. Participating animal shelters will receive rewards for their efforts including a $1,000 grant. The top two participants with the highest year-over-year increase in dog returns in September will also each receive a $10,000 grant, and another $10,000 grant will be awarded to the top two participants with the most innovative return-to-home practices. Grant awards are intended to help shelter partners expand their resources to support pet lifesaving.
This month It Takes A Village is taking many steps towards increasing reunification numbers in their community. The shelter is waiving all owner reclaim fees to eliminate financial barriers to reunification. On Thursday, September 12, ITAV will be holding a microchip event, providing discounted microchipping to pet owners, for just $10 per pet. Additionally, ITAV has provided the Muscatine County Sheriff’s Office with a DATAMARS Universal Microchip Scanner to help county deputies identify owners
of lost pets recovered outside of Muscatine city limits. These initiatives all accompany a month-long educational campaign, educating the public on what to do to help return lost pets to their owners.
“Best Friends data indicates that since 2019, there has been a 26% decline in dogs reclaimed by their families once they have entered an animal shelter,” said Julie Castle, CEO, Best Friends Animal Society. “We believe that pets belong at home with their families rather than waiting to be reclaimed at a shelter and we applaud the way our shelter partners have innovated and implemented operational changes to ensure more lost pets are reunited with their families.”
Community members with pets play an essential role in preventing animals from being lost by ensuring their dogs always wears a collar and identification tags with up-to-date contact information. Since collars can sometimes come off, it’s also crucial to have dogs microchipped and to keep the microchip registration information current. If a dog goes missing and ends up at an animal shelter or rescue group, these measures can significantly increase the chances of a swift reunion. If you find a missing pet, please
follow the steps listed here: htps://bfas.org/gethemhome or www.itakesavillage.dog/lost-pet.