MUSKEGON, Mich. — The days after the Fourth of July holiday are some of the busiest for local animal shelters, with dozens of pet owners trying to reunite with their furry friends.
Muskegon County animal shelters have been very busy fielding calls, emails and direct messages from families looking for their lost pets.
Lana Carson, the director of Pound Buddies, says the stray intake has increased significantly since last Friday.
Big Lake Humane Society took in some of the shelter animals at Pound Buddies in preparation for the holiday.
Luckily, reunification rates are high after the holiday, and there's things you can do to help.
Shelters say if you find a lost pet try to safely contain them. Then start checking social media sites including Facebook pages like Lost and Found Pets of Muskegon.
Report a found animal to the municipal shelter—in this case, Pound Buddies.
If you can safely transport the animal, take it either to a vet or animal shelter to scan for a microchip, which should alert the owner.
Pet owners should also utilize social media to begin their search.
"Put up a picture, put up your contact information, and then go to places again the apps of like the neighbor app or pawboost.com, which cross post to the neighbor app as well. That's where you can create free fliers and also on paw boost, they share it on their social media as well. So it has an even larger reach," said Velvet Lyght, Shelter Manager at Big Lake Humane Society.
Shelter staff say out of 10 lost pets, six will be reunited with their family in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Meanwhile, in Kent County, it's a very different story, with the Kent County Animal Shelter reporting only an average number of stray animal intake.
The executive director of the shelter, Angela Hollinshead, thanked the community for doing their part to help.
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