Visibly Marked and Microchipped Lost Dogs Have a Higher Chance to Find Their Owners in Belgrade

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyse the demographic characteristics of lost and found dogs in Belgrade, Serbia. The demographic data concerning the 246 lost and 81 found dogs in the period of 5 consecutive years (January, 2009 to January 2014) was sampled and analysed from the data bases of four organizations for animal protection in Belgrade. The recovery rate of lost dogs and the chance to be reunited again with their owners was 33%. The highest recovery rate was estimated in the category of lost dogs with visible marks such as tags or collars (30%).The chi-square test disclosed that besides dogs with special visible marks, significantly more females, light colour coated, friendly/sociable and neutered dogs were reunited with their owners (P<0.0001).

Analysis of Factors Relating to Companion Rabbits Relinquished to Two United Kingdom Rehoming Centers

“…Initiatives for promoting microchipping of companion rabbits may help guardians to relocate stray rabbits who may have escaped and may allow for guardians to be traced by the authorities where rabbits may have been abandoned. A study of lost and found dogs passing through animal protection organizations in Belgrade, Serbia, revealed that those with microchips were significantly more likely to be reunited with their guardians than were those who were not microchipped (Vučinić Radisavljević, Hammond-Seaman, & Ilieski, 2015), with similar findings for microchipped stray dogs in the United Kingdom (Dogs Trust, 2015). However, rabbits may be less likely to be microchipped than dogs, with a recent study showing that less than a quarter of rabbit guardians, responding to an online survey, had microchipped their rabbit(s) (Oxley Previti, Alibrandi, Briefer, & Passantino, 2015).…”

A New Web-Based Tool for RTO-Focused Animal Shelter Data Analysis

“…In addition to finding that more dogs had microchips in the period after the decree, and that RTO among those with a microchip has slightly increased, their reported data showed that over the entire study period, microchipped dogs had a 77% RTO rate (1,056/1,379) compared with 42% (1,295/3,076) for non-microchipped dogs. Studies with smaller sample sizes (in the hundreds) in Spain and Serbia have also found similar differences in RTO rates ( 26 , 27 ). This study builds upon these previous results by examining microchip presence across different areas of the shelter's jurisdiction.…”

Missing cat features influencing their returning to owners

“…As reported by Surbek et al (2015), animals can run away due to the owner's inattention or irresponsibility, for mating, loneliness and boredom, etc. The reason for a missing pet can also be pet theft (Vucinic et al 2015). In case of a missing pet, the owner is obliged to report it to the stray animal shelter within three days.…”

“…While a missing pet animal is very stressful for the owner, the pets that are missing are generally frightened, hungry and thirsty, physically and mentally exhausted, may be poisoned, be killed in traffic, by other animals or malevolent people. Eventually, missing pets may be accommodated in a stray animal shelter where they can be found by their owners, be adopted to a new home, or euthanised, depending on the local regulations and shelter policy (Surbek et al 2015;Vucinic et al 2015).…”

“…The features of missing pets are crucial for recognising, locating and returning them to their owners (Surbek et al 2015;Vucinic et al 2015), whereas a few of the previous studies on the issue worldwide, on cats in particular, were mostly focused on their identification marks and searching methods, primarily in North America and Australia (Lord et al 2007;Weiss et al 2012;Huang et al 2018).…”