What to Do If Your Pet is Lost in Montgomery County

Boredom, loneliness and curiosity are major culprits of why a pet might run away from home. A noise or unsettling event might scare your pet. Once running, an animal can run for miles without stopping. If you recently moved, your pet could be looking for its old home and familiar surroundings. 

But you can take preventative measures that could aid in bringing a lost pet home faster.

Make sure your pet always wears a collar with tags.  The tags should be made out of either heavy plastic or stainless steel and should include your pet’s name, your address and phone number. From time to time, check to see if the engraving on the tag is legible and replace the tag anytime your contact information changes. Your pet should also wear a rabies tag at all times, since workers at the county shelter can use the information on the tag to identify your pet.

Have your pet micro-chipped.  If someone rescues your pet and takes it to a veterinarian’s office or animal shelter, the chip can be scanned and matched with your contact information.

Take clear and up-to-date photos of your pet  and note any distinctive markings and scars.

Have your pet spayed or neutered.  An animal that hasn't been spayed or neutered wants to breed and will make every effort to escape in order to do so, further prolonging the pet’s unsupervised time away from home.

If your pet does run away, act fast!  Don’t wait a day or two in hopes that it will come home. Once you’ve determined that your pet is not hiding or caught somewhere in your home, start spreading the word that your pet is missing.

Make simple, easy-to-read signs.  At the top of each sign, write LOST DOG OR CAT in bold letters. Include a clear, up-to-date photo of your pet. Write a concise description of your pet, not just the particular breed; not everyone knows what a Corgi or a Lynx Point looks like. In the description, note your pet’s name, size, gender, color(s) and any distinctive markings and/or scars.

Offer a reward without specifying the amount on the poster. This gives people an incentive to contact you if they see your pet. At the bottom of the poster, in a large, bold font include at least one phone number. Good locations to put signs up are streetlight poles, at the intersections of major roads (especially the ones where people will be sitting in their cars or standing on the corner waiting for the light to change), in your neighbors’ mailboxes or on their front doors, in the windows of local businesses and around local parks and community centers.

Lynx carcass leads to jail time — Maine News — Bangor Daily News

BANGOR, Maine — A Vermont man was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to seven days in jail for having a Canada lynx carcass.

The lynx is a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

Minutes before being sentenced, Alan B. Clark Jr. 38, of South Hero, Vt., pleaded guilty to the federal misdemeanor crime of possession of unlawfully taken wildlife.

He began serving his sentence late Thursday afternoon at Penobscot County Jail.

“We have the Endangered Species Act to protect, restore and save these types of animals,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret Kravchuk said. “I do think this defendant deserves jail time. Just a fine would be a meaningless punishment.”

Clark admitted that nearly three years ago he took an animal carcass he knew was a lynx from Maine to a taxidermist in Vermont. Clark and others camped between Nov. 13 and 17, 2006, near Musquacook Stream in the North Maine Woods on a deer-hunting trip, according to court documents.

The taxidermist called the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department to report that Clark had left a lynx with her for mounting, according to court documents. She said Clark had told her he had shot the animal in Maine, thinking he was shooting at a coyote.

Clark admitted Thursday to Kravchuk that he knew the animal was a lynx when he took it to the taxidermist.

“I’ve learned from my mistake,” he told the judge. “I want to apologize for taking up the court’s time and the investigators’ time.”

Clark faced up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $25,000.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Lowell recommended that Clark serve a weeklong jail sentence and be ordered to pay a fine.

Clark’s Bangor attorney, Richard Hartley, urged Kravchuk to sentence his client to a few days in jail because of recent chronic health problems and his inability to work. Clark lives with his longtime fiancee and their two daughters, ages 2 and 4, Hartley told the judge.

The conviction will not affect Clark’s right to possess guns or prohibit him from hunting.

Clark was the third man in less than three years to be convicted of killing a lynx.

In 2007, Kravchuk sentenced two Van Buren men for a similar crime in November 2005.

The judge sentenced Ricky Learnard, 43, to 21 days in jail for shooting a lynx and Kevin L. Fortin, 59, to seven days in jail and ordered him to pay a $1,500 fine for having its pelt.

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