Lost dogs find their way to pet supply stores

Lost your dog? Try looking in neighborhood pet supply stores. Local pet supply store owners are increasingly finding lost dogs that make their way to familiar - and safe - territory. Store owners aren't sure whether the dogs have been into the stores before and remember how to get there, or if the scent of other dogs lures them in, or even if the dogs are being "dumped" close to a store where pet lovers are more likely to make sure the dogs are safe. Whatever the reason, store owners are finding more lost dogs than the average citizen.

Cindy Embry, owner of Avenue Barket on lower Greenville Avenue, has found so many lost dogs that she is considering investing in a microchip scanner to help locate the dogs' owners. "People don't check in the pet supply stores. Last week we found a lost dog and someone kept him for a week because we couldn't find the owner," Cindy told DallasDogLife. The dog was not microchipped, but Cindy posted the photo on Avenue Barket's Facebook page, where it was shared around the community. Luckily, a DallasDogLife.com Facebook reader saw the post and recognized the dog from a flier in her neighborhood. "They never checked here," said Cindy. "It was really close by too."

Neighborhood pet supply stores, as well as other pet businesses, should be checked when a dog goes missing in our community. Not only can they spread the word quickly to their customers via Facebook, but they can find the owners quickly if the dog does make its way into their store. Of course, microchips and/or tags are the best way to reunite lost dogs with their owners, so be sure to have one or both forms of identification on your dogs at all times.

Cindy says she will keep posting the photos of lost dogs, and hopefully more people will come into her store to look for a dog who is missing. Undoubtedly, the lost dogs will keep showing up at Avenue Barket. "They know they're safe here," said Cindy.