July - National Lost Pet Prevention Month - Story Update.

Clay County — As we note July as National Lost Pet Prevention Month, Clay County Animal Services partners with Petco Love to return lost pets to their loved ones.

Clay County Animal Services is joining forces with Petco Love on a mission to reunite lost pets with their families. Animal shelters are known to fill up quickly during the summer, specifically post the Fourth of July holiday, as loud fireworks can frighten pets to run away.

Families are encouraged to bring photos of their beloved pets into shelters to be uploaded onto the Petco Love Lost national database. If they ever go missing, owners can log into their account on the database and mark their pet as lost. The database searches for a match with patented facial recognition technology which scans for size, color, facial features, and coats.

If the lost pet’s photo is in the Petco Love Lost database, the pet owner will be immediately notified and reunited with family. If a match is not found, users can create a lost or found pet alert to share on social media and receive notifications about their missing pet.

“Petco Love Lost is a fantastic tool we have at the shelter to reunite lost pets with their owners, but we need the community’s help to make it the most effective,” said Aymie Hellard, Clay County’s Animal Services Shelter Manager in a recent press release.

According to Petco Love president Susanne Kogut, one in three pets goes missing in their lifetime with an estimated 10 million pets that go missing each year.

“That gives us 10 million reasons why we created Petco Love Lost, because we believe nothing is more important than keeping people and pets together for a lifetime of love. Together with Clay County Animal Services, our goal is to keep pets where they belong - at home, with you,” she said in a press release.

Anyone can upload a photo of a lost or found pet or search the free national lost and found pet database on the Petco Love Lost website at https://lost.petcolove.org/.

The photos of all pets brought into the shelter that are linked to the national database can also be searched through Clay County’s Lost and Found Animals photos page: https://www.claycountygov.com/community/animal-services/programs-and-services/lost-and-found .

Also effective today, July 12, The Clay County Human Society is offering Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate and Release (TNVR) services on a first-come, first-served basis every Tuesday with no prior registration required. All cats must be dropped off in a humane live trap between 7:45 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. at the Clay County Humane Society, located at 2230 Filmore St., Orange Park. All cats must be picked up the same day.

For additional information visit claymedical@claycountygov.com or call 904-529-5876.

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