A nightmare no one wants to go through

The best of harnesses and the tightest of leashes sometimes cannot prevent a pet from getting lost. But a little preparedness goes a long way in ensuring their safe return.

Pippi is no stranger to escapades: not that he is a runner, but he thrives on adventures. If we don’t take him on one often, he finds his own! When he started visiting our home before he adopted us, he came in and went out on his terms, squeezing his body between the compound bars. Once he was ours, we had closed those gaps with ropes in the hopes that he could stay safe inside.

A couple of days passed and one morning, while out in the garden, he vanished. We went frantically looking for him on the streets and in the neighbours’ houses. While we were at it, he had sneaked in and settled at the door, waiting for us. Relieved, we then went looking around the compound to discern how he ventured out and found chewed bits of the rope.

Although the compound was promptly fixed with sheets that made it impossible for Pippi to escape, it didn’t put an end to his adventures. Soon after, he took himself on a walk twice when the gates were left open by unsuspecting guests, ran into the street from the vet hospital, and in the neighbourhood park here, took off a few times chasing squirrels and rabbits. Each time, we had our hearts in our mouths until we found him. As luck would have it, he was scared to venture too far and we found him safe and sound running towards us with his goofy-and-naughty face!

Our fur kids getting lost is a nightmare for pet parents. The frantic cries for help and offers of handsome rewards on dedicated pet lost-and-found pages on social media give us a glimpse of how frequently our pets escape. All it takes is an open gate or a window, a terrifying vet visit, startling sounds of a vehicle, a new territory or an exciting being in sight. The best of the harnesses and the tightest of the leashes give in to Fido’s will! To add to the worries, the thriving business of backyard breeding means intact (not sterilised) dogs and cats, belonging to breeds in demand, could be stolen and later abandoned miles away (if lucky).

Animals, by nature, have an incredible sense of navigation — they travel thousands of kilometres and return without getting lost. Sea turtles and salmon are known to return to their birth sites to lay eggs, and wildebeests in the Serengeti move across the expanse of the Savannahs in search of greener pastures every year, and birds, like the arctic tern, fly pole to pole in search of warmer weather. For the most part, they all find their way, relying on the position of the Sun and stars, the Earth’s magnetic fields or their senses. However, sometimes, they err and lose their way, costing them their lives.

Our dogs and cats are not too far behind — studies show they depend on the Earth’s magnetism to find their way when lost. Dogs also use their incredible sense of smell to sniff their way home. Newspapers often carry heartening stories of dogs and cats tracing their way home by walking tens of kilometres. But, to do that, our pets need a ‘thinking brain’ and some space, which is hard to get when stuck in the middle of a road in a bustling city or being attacked by other street dogs and heartless humans. Hence, most lost pets cower and slip into drains and other hard-to-reach places, making it difficult to find them.

It’s wishful thinking to hope we never lose our pets. Preparing for it is a better bet. With Pippi, we periodically check his harness so it fits him snugly and he cannot easily slip away, never have him off-leash in parks, new places or the vet’s office, familiarise him with the neighbourhood streets, keep an eye out for possible triggers during his walks, and put a name tag with his name and a phone number. But that’s no guarantee he never gets loose! When he does, we keep our calm, watch where he goes, and wait to see if he returns or responds to our calls. So far, he has always come back running to us within a few minutes. But that hasn’t stopped us from planning for the worst, including building a list of lost-and-found Facebook pages, nearby vets and a collection of toys and clothes to leave behind for him to trace his path.

You probably don’t need fancy gadgets to keep your pet safe — a healthy dose of common sense and some preemptive thinking does wonders.

Tailspin is your monthly column on everything that’s heartwarming and annoying about pet parenting.

The writer is a science communicator and mom to Pippi, a five-year-old rescued Indie, who is behind her drive to understand dogs better. She tweets at @RamanSpoorthy