{"id":37720,"date":"2022-10-20T22:01:18","date_gmt":"2022-10-21T04:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/facebook-community-helps-reunite-la-plata-county-pets-with-owners\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:39:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:39:48","slug":"facebook-community-helps-reunite-la-plata-county-pets-with-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/facebook-community-helps-reunite-la-plata-county-pets-with-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook community helps reunite La Plata County pets with owners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The La Plata County Humane Society and San Juan County (N.M.) have joined forces on Cathy Roberts\u2019 Facebook page to reunite lost pets with their owners. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Last month, a small, tawny-colored dog named Roper went missing from the home he shared with his owner, Terry. The newly rescued dog had run off and was unable to find his way back. Through a series of social media posts, many from locals who had seen Roper along hiking trails or near the river around Clovis Drive and Junction Creek, Roper was found and returned to Terry.<\/p>\n

This is just one of many reunions made possible thanks to a Facebook page run by Durango retiree Cathy Roberts.<\/p>\n

Seven years ago, Cathy Roberts wanted an easier way to reach out to the community for help in locating a missing pet. The Humane Society, where Roberts had been volunteering for several years, had its own website, but it was not enough to get La Plata County residents engaged. That\u2019s when Cathy decided that social media, and more specifically Facebook, could be the solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took off pretty quickly, once we made the page,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cWe have over 8,000 active followers. The Humane Society (in Durango) also connected with San Juan County in New Mexico, and they share use of the page to bring more attention to lost or stray animals.\u201d<\/p>\n

One quick scroll though the La Plata County Lost and Found Pets Facebook <\/a>page reveals just how many animals go missing or are found wandering around rural areas of the county on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t keep track of all the missing pets on the Facebook page,\u201d Roberts said, \u201cbut I can tell you that it\u2019s a lot. More than people would think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having worked with the Human Society in Durango for so long, Roberts is not surprised by the high number.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always certain areas around La Plata where pets go missing frequently,\u201d she said, \u201cand it\u2019s usually areas where dogs don\u2019t have to be leashed. A lot of times, they just go running off on a trail and don\u2019t come back to their owner. There\u2019s also the pets that belong to tourists and campers visiting the area. It\u2019s so easy for dogs to wander off and get lost when they\u2019re not leashed, and they\u2019re in an unfamiliar area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts emphasizes that even if the owners of the missing pets are not locals, the Humane Society and those participants on the Facebook page still work to locate the lost animal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe keep searching even after the owners had to go home,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cMost can\u2019t stay here indefinitely to look for their pet.\u201d<\/p>\n

One such incident occurred when a family visiting Durango lost their dog and had to return home to Ohio.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we found the dog through everyone\u2019s help, we (The Humane Society) did a fundraiser to get the dog back to Cincinnati,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cThey were so excited to be reunited with him. It was really great.\u201d<\/p>\n

To reduce the number of pets going missing in La Plata County, Roberts has advice for all pet owners.<\/p>\n

\u201cGet your pet microchipped,\u201d she said, \u201cand make sure it\u2019s registered. That\u2019s the most important thing. We do them at The Human Society for $45. It has all of your pet\u2019s information in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert\u2019s stresses the importance of the microchips when it comes to documenting vaccinations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we get them at the shelter without a microchip, we don\u2019t know anything,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019d hate to vaccinate them, when they don\u2019t need it. That wouldn\u2019t be good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts also emphasizes the need for pets to be licensed along with being microchipped.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the law in La Plata County,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cYour pet has to be licensed. It costs about $10. We need to know if they had their rabies shots and so forth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since it is a common occurrence in La Plata County for newly adopted pets to go missing, Roberts has suggestions for new owners.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpend a lot of time with your pets the first few days,\u201d she said. \u201cDon\u2019t just leave them alone. Make sure your windows and doors are secured. One of the recent dogs we found was a rescue who jumped through a window screen to get out. Take your dog on a leash around your yard or property so they can get to know their surroundings and mark their scent everywhere. That way, if they do get out, they know how to find their way home.\u201d<\/p>\n

molsen@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Society volunteer Cathy Roberts has some advice for local and visiting pet owners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[382,3303,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-37720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-animal","tag-facebook","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83764,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37720\/revisions\/83764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37720"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=37720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}