Tips to Find Your Animal Friend A Receptionist Who Loves Pets and Their People Lost Your Pet? Meet Tara Sayers
Our pets are one of the great constants in our lives. They are always ready to support us after a hard day with warm companionship and slobbery kisses. However, despite our best efforts to keep them corralled while we are away, they can go missing. Losing a pet is a stressful experience. However, not all is lost. After getting lost, over 90% of dogs are found alive, and nearly 20% return home of their own accord. And for cats, in about 90% of cases, they are lost an average of 5–7 days before being found or making their way home. Here are some simple steps you can take to help your animal companions return home safely. Search Your Local Area It may seem obvious, but searching your immediate area is important when your pet goes missing. Make sure to thoroughly search every room and area of your house: your basement, crawl spaces, closets, cabinets, bedrooms, and garage. Failing that, check with your neighbors. In most cases, pets stay within a reasonable distance from home. Contact Authorities Your next step should be to call all relevant authorities in your area. If you are on vacation or traveling with your pets when they go missing, using Petfinder can help you locate local shelters. Call your local animal shelters, animal control officers, and veterinarian offices to report your animal missing. Program their numbers into your phone to make the back-and-forth easier and stress-free. Lost Pet Poster Lastly, you should create flyers and posters featuring a recent photo of your missing pet. These should feature the name, breed, and notable features of your missing pet and your contact information should anyone need to reach you concerning its whereabouts. If you are proactive, your chances of reuniting with your missing pet are high.
Tara Sayers has long had a heart for animals. She grew up owning dogs, cats, horses, and llamas on her parents’ mountain property. The best part of her job as our receptionist, she says, is “seeing all the different animals and hearing the cute names they have.” She feels compassion for clients. “The hardest part for me is when our clients come in with really sick or badly injured animals,” she says. “We try to calm the owners as best we can so we can take the best possible care of their animal.” She tries to reassure pet parents, answer their questions, and confer with the doctors about those she can’t answer.
This is Tara’s first job in veterinary medicine, and she enjoys helping our technicians check patients in, record pets’ health histories, and fill prescriptions.
“I have learned so much about different kinds of medicines and treatments,” she says. After two years on the job, she also likes being able to provide clients with estimates of the treatments and procedures their pets are likely to receive.
At home, Tara lives with her husband Destyne, their 3-year-old son Nathan, and their two dogs and two cats — three of which she rescued from homelessness. Tara
first saw Arrow, an American bulldog, in a Facebook post. “It was kind of a sad story,” she says. The owner’s husband had died, and she was unable to keep him. “I went and met her, and I fell in love with Arrow instantly,” she says. Their other dog is a heeler-hound mix named Dutchess. Tara adopted one of their two orange cats, Mango, from our clinic about a year ago. A client had found him suffering from abscesses on his back leg and brought him in for treatment. When the client explained that she could not keep him, “I fell in love with him,” Tara says and took him home. She adopted their other orange cat, Bitty, from a shelter. When Tara isn’t caring for our clients, their pets, or her own furry friends, she loves to go on outings with Destyne and Nathan. A self-described “huge bookworm,” she also loves curling up to read. Her latest favorite? “Fourth Wing,” a fantasy by Rebecca Yarros.
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