Protect your pet—take precautions before a storm

When it rains and storms in the Austin area the Austin Animal Center and area animal shelters see a spike in the number of lost pets due to runaways that are frightened by the rain storm.

Because the animal shelter operates at capacity, it becomes critical to have the pet properly tagged so the animal will not be at risk. If a phone number has changed on the tag use a sharpie to write the current number.

“With typical storm events, we see hundreds of lost pets entering our shelter. Keeping a current ID tag on your pet can help us prevent these numbers from happening,” says Chief Animal Services Officer, Abigail Smith.

The City is asking if a lost dog or cat is found that the person finding the pet keep him/her safely contained, call 3-1-1 to report the lost animal, and house the animal a few days before turning in to the shelter.

Additionally, pet owners should make sure that pets are properly contained when the area is under a storm. The safest way to ensure that your animal doesn’t run away is to bring the pet inside during the bad weather.

The Austin Animal Center offers free I.D. tags and microchips to all pet owners in the Austin and Travis County to help keep pets safe and out of the animal shelter system.

If a pet is lost, owners should check the Animal Center’s website for a picture of the lost animal at www.austinanimalcenter.org or follow the Center’s twitter feed @austinanimals for lost pets. The twitter feed updates hourly with information on lost pets.

For more information, visit www.austinanimalcenter.org; call 3-1-1; or check www.facebook.com/austinanimalservices for daily pet updates.