Animal Welfare Professionals

Showing ownership of an animal is becoming really hard for owners in our area, we are lower income area and only have two vets here also. Most of our owners have not taken their animals to a vet or have them chipped, we are over capacity by a ton, and we are needing some ideas on what you all do for proof of ownership. 

Thanks !! 

#ReturntoHome(LostPetReunification)

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Alyson Harms
Animal Shelter Manager
The Bullhead City Animal Shelter
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If someone is coming in to claim their pet they are paying fees to get them out. The owner is required to show ID to claim a pet.  (Yes we require ID) There is an Impound fee, license and rabies which is done before they leave (if not current), and boarding fees. We have had very few disputes about a pet but if we do, we ask for photos of the pet with the owner or get the local law enforcement involved.  If someone comes to claim a pet, that pet usually reacts when they are ID'd by owner. 

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Carrie Ward
South Utah Valley Animal Services Special Service District
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We will accept a picture of the pet as proof. Absent any tangible proof, we will accept the dog being happy to see the person as proof. Any chip or tag showing a different owner, pet will be held for stray wait and if not reclaimed, person who has come forward will be first in line to adopt on the pet's available date. 

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Julie Buckland
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Very similarly to Julie, we accept vet records, pictures of the pet, or in absence of any tangible proof, just signs of recognition from the animal.

I would also suggest looking for ways to waive fees or have officers deliver animals to homes! And imagine things you could accept other than a government issued ID to feel comfortable releasing a pet - a phone bill perhaps?

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Emily Wood
Director
Broward County Animal Care
Fort Lauderdale FL
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Our rescue doesn't generally take strays, since we don't have a municipal contract with our county. But when we do and the animal doesn't have a microchip we usually do a stray hold with posts on Facebook and the Emmet county helping hands site, typically the owner is the first to show up and we generally go by the animals reaction, and a recent photo of the animal provided by the owner (not the photo we use on the post) but we have had people in the past try to "claim" an animal even though they were not the owner and they'd demand to be called if the owner doesn't pick up the animal, which we have a pretty good stray return to home rate, especially for dogs.

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Ky Crawford
Animal Care Attendant
Little Traverse Bay Humane Society
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We do not hold strays, so the animals in our care are ours.  This impacts our answer a bit, I'm sure.  We receive strays from the city/county, so this does happen from time to time, though.  We request proof from vet records or photos.  If they cannot provide that proof, then we ask that they apply and pay an adoption fee since the animal already completed the full stray hold without being reclaimed.  As soon as they enter our care, we spend the money on vaccinating/chipping/spay/neuter, etc.  So, if they can't actually prove the animal is theirs then we need to receive the adoption fee to help with those costs.  We have never had an issue with this!

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Kelly Eckerle
Dubois County Humane Society
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We have accepted photos of pets on phones as proof before. We just started cracking down on our pet license, so every animal we impound will get a license included in their impound fees when owners come to pick up.

We had someone turn in a beagle to us, and then some 'owners' called to claim her and it was all very fishy. When we mentioned impound and license they essentially hung up and we never heard from them again. 

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Heather Fiero
Animal Control Officer
Park County Sheriff's Office
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