Between the Fourth of July fireworks and a handful of severe thunderstorms, the City of Lubbock Animal Services said they’ve had an increase in ‘lost pets’ coming into the shelter.
“A lot of people see them and they think it’s a stray or they’re like it’s somebody’s dog because it looks well taken care of. We’ve seen a lot of that and we’ve seen a lot of dogs being hit this week, so we’re not sure if that’s from the storms or the fireworks,” Kia Reimath, the Assistant Director of Animal Services said.
Reimath said in the past two weeks alone they’ve had over 419 animals brought in, including both cats and dogs. She said the best thing pet owners can do is get their pets microchipped.
“Bring them in here. It’s ten bucks. We will microchip them, we will microchip all of your animals,” Reimath said.
She said it’s important for owners to check multiple times before giving up on their lost pet.
“Come look. A lot of the times they come in the first day they lost it and it might still be on the truck. Come back the next day and the day after. We hold pets for 72 hours, not counting weekends and holidays, before we assess the animal and that gives time to have the owner come in and see it and if there is theirs. If there is no owner and the dog is healthy and we socialize it then we try and get it into the adoption system,” Reimath said.