Using the Internet to Find Your Lost Dog by Using the Internet

It's easy to lose things at home, such as car keys, wallets or cell phones. If you lose them in a city, though, things are not so easy. There is no centralized location where a found object should be returned, assuming the finder desires to return it. However, with the benefit of internet technology, perhaps locating priceless lost objects will no longer be so difficult.

By using a site such as lostandfoundnow.com, you may be able to find your lost pet. Using this site, you simply need to place an online ad, and wait for a response. This is what many people have already done, and if you read the ads they've placed, you will have a better idea of how your ad will appear should you chose to place it.

Take a look at this ad for a lost schnauzer in San Antonio. It gets straight to the point, saying that she has "black hair growing on her left buttcheek." That's pretty specific.

When you write an ad, you will certainly want to let people know that you mean business, and that absolutely nothing will deter you in your search. Consider this person who lost a micro mini dachshund in La Grange, Texas. The dog was traveling in a car with the owner when the car was involved in a serious accident. The car flipped over in the accident, and the owner says, "I kicked out the window to escape," but the micro mini dachshund ran away before the owner was able to emerge from the car. The owner expresses regret that "the police would not let me find him before forcing me to go to the hospital." I tend to agree with the police that safety should come first, but I empathize with the owner when I read the closing words of the ad: "I am heartbroken without him."

For many people, sentimental objects are even more disturbing to lose than pets. Scanning through these lost and found ads lets you see very quickly that popular sentimental objects are no longer only just delicate pieces of jewelry or scrapbooks resting on your coffee table, but they are more likely to be new gadgets, such as cameras or cell phones. Often, when requesting the object be returned, the owner will not even expect for the whole item to be returned, such as in this ad for a Nikon digital camera in Las Vegas: "I JUST WANT THE PHOTOS AND YOU CAN KEEP THE CAMERA," or this ad from Times Square, New York, also for a Nikon camera, containing hundreds of pictures: "I just need the card containing the pictures, please." Such a timid requests suggests that the owners believe that no one in their right mind would want to do the right thing and return the property fully intact.

Other ads for lost cameras reveal that the reason these owners make such defeated requests is because the pictures in the camera mean so much to them. One ad from Crossville, TN states that the camera "has very important and non-replaceable pictures of dying family members," and another ad from Virgina Beach says that "special US naturalization ceremony pictures" were lost, and further emphasizes, "those pictures mean a lot to me." A Panasonic video camcorder lost in Fargo Airport, North Dakota is not only missed for its "precious video of our vacation on a lake in Minnesota," but also because of the fact that "my son saved his allowance and bought it just before our vacation so he is very upset at having lost it." And possibly the most distressing loss of all is of a pink Motorola cell phone at the Illinois Museum of Science and Industry. The writer of the ad states: "My fiancee has been crying all day because it was a cell phone her dad had bought her before he passed away last year." Furthermore, he offers: "I'd be willing to treat the person who returned it to dinner or something -- that phone really means a lot to us. We really would like to get it back, mainly because of its sentimental value." The last lines of the ad express the frustration he shares with his fiancee, reminding everyone that "Her deceased dad bought it for her, for God's sake."

Some of the more unusual items advertised on lostandfoundnow.com include:

1.) A set of saddle bags containing juggling and fire eating equipment for a pirate show at Shoreline Village on the Waterfront, many items inscribed with the ownership information "Thomas Wood" the Pyrojuggler and driver's licence #, torches, crystal balls, machetes, and a large pirate gun.

2.) A White Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme that was stolen on a rainy day. The owner writes: "Someone I am sure just took it to get out the rain." After providing a description of the vehicle, the owner admits that she "will end up losing it to the city if they find it before me" since "the plate stickers say 4/03." The owner speculates that the car may be near the Southside area, but quickly realizes "it really could be anywhere if they filled the tank," adding, "it only had 1/4 tank of gas."

3.) A family of human beings. This family was lost from Grand Lake, Colorado. Something needs to be returned to them. The writer of the ad further remarks that the family was last seen playing Putt Putt golf.

So, if you are a person who has recently visited Grand Lake and played Putt Putt with your family members, you may or may not be missing something. Please double-check.

Obviously, placing ads at a site like lostandfoundnow.com will help you to get the word out about items you have lost. While these ads may or may not be effective in getting your lost items returned to you, at least placing the ad will almost certainly provide you with a theraputic release.