The Multnomah County Animal Shelter will begin a unique social media experiment to boost the numbers of lost pets that are successfully reunited with their owners.

When a companion pet is lost, owners have historically posted signs, advertised, and searched the Multnomah County website and other shelters for animals that have been turned in. Now the county animal services program is adding another suggestion for people trying to find their animals: try Twitter.

The concept is that people who have lost or found pets will post the details of a pet’s disappearance and add “#multcolostpet” to the update, which is viewable by that person’s network of “followers.” Adding the “#” sign (commonly known as a hashtag) to the term multcolostpet makes the tweet instantly searchable to all the twitter universe, not just an account holder’s followers. A Twitter search will show all updates that contain the phrase.

Multnomah County receives reports of approximately 150 missing pets each week. Using Twitter to locate lost pets is another tool in the tool kit. Twitter is a powerful tool and the information can be quickly disseminated to hundreds or thousands of local people who may be able to help locate a dear companion. A pet license and microchip dramatically increase the chance of owners being reunited with their lost pets.

“Chair Wheeler challenged us to think about ways we could use new media to improve services, and this seemed like another way to help reunite lost pets with their owners,” said Mike Oswald, Director of Animal Services “Twitter users are a savvy bunch and its going to be up to them to see if this works. We are just putting the idea out there and it is our sincere hope that this will help more owners find their lost pets.”

If you discover your pet is missing, Animal Services advises pet owners to: 1) file a lost pet report; 2) immediately start searching your neighborhood; 3) visit your local animal shelter; and, 4) search the other resources and shelters in the community. At the Multnomah County Animal Services website, www.multcopets.org, you can file an online lost pet report, search for a lost pet, file an online report about pets you’ve found, and view a host of other resources like adoption, volunteering, foster homes and donations.

Posted on September 1, 2009

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