After searching for or receiving data on animals around the country, reporters realize that there are clearly more negative reports than there are positive ones. It is so much more joyous to reveal the good stories such as Jasper, the Golden Retriever’s story.
The heartwarming stories are those that will last. They tend to stick with people better than the stories of abuse and abandonment; those just tend to get under a dog lovers skin and give them nightmares. Although word needs to get out so that the bad actions can be stopped, the stories tend to rear up all too often.
The story of Jasper is one of loss, of love, of friendship and of reunifying the dog with its family after is wandered off and was located nearly 25 miles from its home in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Mert and Bonnie Harmsen had just added Jasper to their family on Saturday, February 16th; picking him up in Ohio. The couple had to put their previous Golden down just before Christmas.
Only four days after getting their new furry family member, Jasper decided to track a rabbit out of the yard and after searching for over a week, a remarkable phone call came in reporting that their dog had been recovered nearly 25 miles from home in Campbellsport, Wisconsin. It was quite a trip that Jasper had taken. No reports came in about the rabbit, however.
People that love their animals will go out of their way to recover them. The Harmsen family physically searched for their new dog. They also distributed and posted almost 900 fliers, put out radio ads, contacted the Humane Society and had a contact at the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office helping their efforts. This worked well since Lora and Mike Nitschke contacted the Sheriff’s Office, too.
Another method that is utilized, and quite successfully, is the microchip. When a dog is recovered, it is a normal process for humane societies and animal shelters to check for a microchip. Since each chip has a unique identifying number associated with it, the animal can be returned easily to its family members.
More and more often other organizations are popping up that help to locate missing pets. One such organization in the Western Illinois area is Lookout Guardians, LLC. This neighborhood search network is a combination of pet-loving individual volunteers that help track down lost pets. It began because only two percent of felines and 16% of canines are ever returned to their families. Considering that four to six million pets go missing, this is a very low percentage and Lookout Guardians wants to increase the odds for your pet returning safely to you.
They encompass a rapid response time in which they alert neighbors quickly thus increasing the odds of a safe recovery; sensationalizing the loss. To become a lookout, all one needs to do is register with the service and be on guard for out-of-place pets. By enrolling your pets, each pet will have a one-time (lifetime) fee of $15. The rest of the service is completely FREE.
Thankfully the process used to recover Jasper was successful. Animal lovers everywhere are so happy for the Harmsen family and grateful to the Nitschkes for returning him safely!
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