Community Corner

Lost Dogs-MN: Connecting Lost Dogs with their Owners Using Facebook

Tammy Humphries helps reunite people with lost dogs as the administrator of the Lost Dogs-MN Facebook page. The site's popularity is growing rapidly, and now she's looking for a few volunteers to help out.

For years when a dog ran away from home, the canine’s owner responded by printing off fliers and hanging them around town. Unfortunately, lost dogs can log some miles while they’re on the run.

Enter the Lost Dogs-MN Facebook page run by Stillwater resident, Tammy Humphries.

Simply put, the site exists to reunite people with lost dogs.

Find out what's happening in Oakdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Here’s how it works. The page provides one link to post a lost dog report and another for link to file a found dog form.

Residents using the site should always include contact information, a phone number and photo of the dog in the post, Humphries said.

Find out what's happening in Oakdalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“The idea is to get the word out, so people look for lost dogs while they’re out and about town,” Humphries said. “The site is becoming very successful the more I keep on top of it and keep the postings fresh.”

And of course, the more “likes” the page gets, the better the chance of reuniting lost—and found—dogs with their owners.

The Lost Dogs-MN site launched in 2010.

Humphries “liked” the page, became an active user and eventually started volunteering her time to help reconnect owners with their lost dogs.

“I’m on the site from the second I get home to the minute I go to bed,” Humphries said.

She posts about 10-15 updates each day about lost, found and reunited dogs.

In February, the page got a huge boost following the widely reported homeward-bound story of Chassis, a Siberian Huskey, that was found 290 miles from her Duluth home and reunited with her family—thanks to Lost Dogs-MN.

In the last year, the Facebook page has grown from 1,000 likes to more than 3,000.

Volunteers Wanted

Now Humphries is looking for a few volunteers to help out.

Here’s a Facebook message posted yesterday:

Friends- Looking for a fun stay at home volunteer opportunity? We're looking for a few more folks to help us run this page! If you think you have some free time, would like to help folks reunite with their lost dogs, have access to Facebook, e-mail and a computer/laptop (cannot be done on a smart phone) Please fill out a volunteer app, we have a link at the top of our page. Looking for all hours. Thanks!

Humphries is quick to point out the gig has both it’s good and bad days.

“There’s definitely more lost than found dogs,” Humphries said. “The users get to know each other in a bad situation, help each other out and share advice. People really get to know one another.”

What if I Find a Dog?

If you find a stray dog or cat, and don’t know where to turn or who to contact, Humphries advises people not take them to the shelter or pound.

By law, the owners only have five days to find which shelter they may have ended up at, she said. After that the beloved pet is killed, put to sleep or adopted out to someone else.

Instead post the information and a good clear photo on Lost Dogs- MN, and Craigslist under Lost/Found and Pets; get the dog scanned for an ID microchip at the vet; hit the streets looking for posters; and talk with neighbors, police, groomers, pet supply stores, shelters, rescues, pounds, and even let your postman know.

Follow us on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Sign up for our daily newsletter


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Oakdale