After the Fourth of July festivities, the Washoe County Regional Animal Services is dealing with the aftermath of animals frightened from the fireworks escaping their homes.
They've had 25 intakes of dogs throughout the county, and they came into the office to over 40 messages from people trying to find their lost dogs. They've currently returned 12 to 15 dogs, and they want to remind folks how important it is to microchip their dogs.
"It's extremely important to microchip your dog. It's the first thing we check for when we pick up a dog, is whether or not they have identification or a microchip," explains Tammy Jennings, Assistant Director for Washoe County Regional Animal Services. "If your microchip information is up to date, we'll call you right away, so we don't even have to bring the dog down here."
The majority of the dogs found on the Fourth of July were microchipped, which made it easier to get dogs back to their owners.
"It's really great to have those reunifications," said Jennings. "The dogs are happy, the owners are happy, and we're happy they get to go home."
If you find a stray dog you can take them to the Pet Stations in town. They all have microchipping scanners. Reno Fire stations one and three have them as well.
You can reach the Washoe County Regional Animal Services dispatch line at (775) 322-3647. They are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Even if they're not open, you can call the dispatch line and make an appointment to pick up your dog. If you lost your dog, check out their website by clicking the link here.
"We take pictures, we download them onto our website it gets updated every 20 minutes with all the dogs we have picked up," adds Jennings. "People call in all day long and do found reports, so you can check our found reports, our website and if you've lost your dog, please give us all the information so we can help you with a lost report."
