DANE COUNTY (WKOW) -- Dane County Humane Society (DCHS) staff is asking people to check its website for missing pets after seeing an increase of stray animals.
Lisa Bernard, DCHS public relations coordinator, said more stray animals have been brought to the humane society in the last two months than the months prior.
"Over the weekend we took in a total of 16 animals," she said. "One of them was a lovebird."
The weekend before she said they took in 21 pets, and majority of the animals were either dogs or cats.
Bernard said of the 146 pets in their care, 74 are cats and 46 are dogs. The rest are critters such as guinea pigs, rats, rabbits and birds.
While some cats and dogs that come to them look as if they've been missing longer, others she said appear to have recently left home.
"Usually, it's the condition that they're in, if they're looking a little more hungry, a little more worn, then they might have been on their own for a little bit longer," she explained.
With more strays coming in, Bernard said it's probable that some haven't been missing for long.
"If you lose your pet, go to our website, file a lost pet report," Bernard said. "It's all done online, and you can also submit a photo."
With that information, the DCHS will compare all the information to every stray brought into their facility.
"We also compare it to the found reports that are filed online by members of the community," she said. "So, we encourage people who find a pet to also file a found report with us, so we can get those animals back home as soon as possible."
For the person who finds the missing animal, she said it's not a bad idea to hold onto it for a little while since dogs don't typically stray far from home.
"They're usually within a mile or less of their house, or wherever they last were with their family," she said. "It's likely that the family or someone who had that dog, most recently, like a walker or a babysitter, that they're searching that area already."
"You can possibly find their family for them and be the hero," Bernard added.
Another way to ensure your pet makes their way home is a microchip. Bernard said it helps shelters find owners the fastest and encourages people to keep their information up to date.
She said when a pet is brought into the DCHS as a stray, they hold it for four days before it's put up for adoption.
"You have to take the initiative and timing is of the essence," she said.
The Dane County Humane Society's website has a full list of found, missing and adoptable pets.
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