A Powerful New Tool for Improving Return to Owner Rates

Today’s guest post comes to us from Krista Beucler, Marketing & Communications Intern at Community Cats Podcast.

At the 2020 American Pets Alive! Conference, Gina Knepp (Michelson Found Animals) and Bobby Mann (Front Street Animal Shelter) gave a presentation about their Lost2Found program. The program features an automated text messaging system where owners can text “STRAY” to 555888 and they will be sent information about exactly what to do when their pet goes missing.

The program is the culmination of a quarter million dollar grant received by Front Street at the 2018 PetCo Innovation Showdown. Front Street estimates that only 15–20% of lost dogs and 2% of lost cats are returned to their owner, and they believe that the biggest barriers to owners picking up lost pets are lack of knowledge and lack of convenience. They set out to change all that with Lost2Found.

Once an owner texts Lost2Found, they first receive links to the found animal pages at local shelters and videos about the best ways to find a lost dog or cat, including lost animal behavior and how to make an effective lost pet sign. Owners then receive links to the Finding Rover facial recognition app, where they can upload a picture of their lost pet, which the Finding Rover software will compare with images listed as found pets. Because many owners only check at their local animal shelters once, Lost2Found’s automated texting system sends reminders to check found animal pages at their local shelters once every three days, as well as reminders to check Craigslist—and to stay positive. You can view the text message series the program sends on Front Street Animal Shelter’s YouTube channel.

Since the program has had a positive reception in the Sacramento community, Front Street Animal Shelter is committed to helping other shelters set up the program for their communities. They have created videos and promotional materials that anyone can use. See this video for Lost2Found general information.

Here’s how you can follow their template at your shelter:

First, you can text “STRAYINFO” to 555888, and Front Street will be happy to help you get started. Front Street uses the platform Simpletexting.com, and they estimate the cost per year of maintaining the program is $1,000–1,500, with minimal setup and maintenance.

They offer informational videos on lost cats and lost dogs, which you can feel free to share and use at your organization.

Because text messages have a 98% open rate, Lost2Found is a powerful platform that has potential uses for many different things at your shelter, including what to do if you find a lost animal, what you need to do to surrender an animal, reminders for clinic or adoption meet and greet appointments, kitten adoption event alerts, and more.

With the implementation of programs like Lost2Found at more shelters around the country, Front Street hopes to increase the numbers of lost pets returning home.

Originally from Colorado, Krista Beucler received a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing at the University of Mary Washington (UMW) in Virginia. She was the editor-in-chief for Issue 7.2 of the Rappahannock Review, the literary journal published by UMW. Krista’s creative work has been published in From Whispers to Roars literary magazine. She is spending COVID-19 at home with her cats.