Coastal Pet Rescue Teams with Tybee Island Police Department to Help Identify Pets
(Savannah, GA) - May 08, 2008
It seems lately that the Tybee Island Police Department is doing more detective work than need be for Tybee’s pets.
“I don’t know what’s going on these days, but I’ve never seen so many dogs getting loose and cats getting lost,” says Tybee Island Police Department Major Chris Case. “Every day it seems like there’s another one or two.”
On May 6, TIPD officer Lt. Jonathan Hagan called Coastal Pet Rescue’s president and founder Lisa Scarbrough after discovering an elderly poodle that had been hit by a car.
The dog had a collar, but no identification tag or microchip.
Usually, Chatham County Animal Control would be responsible for picking up the dog and holding it at the shelter. Instead, Coastal Pet Rescue made arrangements to have the dog held at their vet so he could receive enough treatment to stabilize him until an owner was found. Another Tybee officer graciously transported the dog across town.
Scarbrough showed up a short time later to follow up on the dog’s condition and try to get as detailed a description of the pet as she could.
“I then went to my computer and sent an email out that made the rounds of Tybee residents,” says Scarbrough. “Within two hours, we had located the owner.”
But not all pets are so lucky. Often times, owners that let their pets wander the streets may not realize they are missing until it is too late.
“When a pet is impounded at animal control, owners have five days to reclaim it before it is either adopted out or euthanized,” says Scarbrough. “All too often, no one comes looking.”
In an effort to keep pets out of animal control due to lack of identification, Coastal Pet Rescue is teaming up with the Tybee Island Police Department to present a low-cost microchip clinic.
The clinic will run from 10 am to 1 pm on Saturday, June 7th at Memorial Park. The cost is $10 per dog or cat. All pets must be on a leash or in a carrier and have proof of current rabies vaccination.
For more information, visit http://www.CoastalPetRescue.org or call 912.228.3538.
Coastal Pet Rescue is a 501(c)(3) non-profit animal rescue organization dedicated to saving the lives of homeless, abused and neglected dogs and cats in Savannah and surrounding areas. Founded in February 2003, Coastal Pet Rescue changes the lives of homeless pets in Chatham, Bryan and Effingham Counties through its foster home program and small capacity shelter, Camp Pawsawhile Retreat.
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