By Heidi Dahms Foster
If you talk to most people who are involved in animal rescue, they’ll tell you that somehow, animals just cross their paths in the most amazing ways, and at their time of most need. Melanie Underwood is one of those people. Her love of animals and ability to find those in need lead to the forming of a Facebook group that now numbers more than 20,000 members and has a network of more than 20 sub-groups.
Lost Pets of Northern Arizona (LPONA) has helped return thousands of lost animals to their homes since its birth in 2015. Interestingly enough, it was a personal experience that caused Underwood to form the group. Underwood’s 88-year-old grandfather had a shih-tzu poodle mix dog that got lost. Her grandfather was ill and devastated when he couldn’t find his little dog “Precious.” Underwood rushed home when she heard the news, and didn’t find any sign of the pup. She worried that a coyote might have carried Precious off, but instead of thinking the worst, she said, she thought perhaps someone might have picked the dog up. She began to post in some Facebook groups hoping someone had seen Precious. That’s when things went a little sour.
“In one of the groups, a lady really came down on me for not having Precious on a leash knowing coyotes were around. I wasn’t even home when Precious got lost, and it was such a harsh response. I said ‘enough’ and started my own group,” she said.
Underwood started helping other people who lost their dogs, with a much different attitude. “Accidents happen,” she said, “and people shouldn’t be made to feel worse after the fact.”
During the first year, the Lost Pets site literally exploded. Underwood found herself online 12-14 hours a day. Building the group literally took a year of her life, to the point her daughter joked that her mom loved the dogs more than her.
Now, LPONA has grown to more than 20,390 members, and it’s continually expanding. Its success is phenomenal, to the point that when people post lost pets on other pages, the response is often, “Have you posted on LPONA?” The Yavapai Humane Society suggests on their after hours line to post on LPONA, as do other shelters. The return rate for pets is literally in the thousands, and it’s not just dogs. Cats, turtles, ferrets, birds and more have been happily re-united with their owners.
One example is a young Australian Shepherd, a therapy dog to a little disabled girl in Prescott Valley, who escaped after a storm blew the family’s fence down. He was gone for most of a day, and when it got dark, the rain began again. One of the searchers posted on LPONA, and just hours later got the welcome call that Underwood had corralled the pup in a business parking lot. Muddy and bedraggled after his adventure, the dog was extremely happy to see his owners! Several years later, he’s still an indispensable help to his little girl.
Since she started LPONA, Underwood said, she’s never seen so many lost dogs, or had so many strange incidents with animals. Recently, she said, someone hit a javelina in Prescott. The driver was upset and crying, and didn’t know what to do, so Underwood pulled over and called the Heritage Park Zoo, whose staff was able to determine the animal would be fine despite a cut, and so let it go. She’s called about a puffy-eyed racoon in the middle of the road and helped a police officer deliver a deer that had been hit to the emergency animal hospital. She shrugs it off now. “These things always happen to me!”
She has now added nearly 20 Facebook pages in varied Northern Arizona communities, all that funnel back to the LPONA site and assist people to find and help pets. She also works with the Yavapai Humane Trappers group, which helps to humanely trap pets that are lost, abandoned or hurt, and are too scared to come to people. Once they are caught, the animals can be returned to their owners, or if no owners can be found, given proper care and adopted out. Other volunteers help Underwood monitor sites, search for lost animals, and much more. Community members have helped with donations for veterinary care and needed supplies.
Yavapai Humane Trappers can also assist with feral cats and kittens – they can be trapped and neutered, then released. Yavapai Humane Trappers can also be found on Facebook.
Anyone can join the LPONA site, because you never know when you’ll come across a lost pet, and time is always of the essence. “You can just go on to Lost Pets of Northern Arizona and ask to join the group. The only thing I ask is that you don’t try to advertise animals that you want to rehome or sell, because that will get us taken down. I have to be a stickler – lost and found pets only.” It is crucial, Underwood said, when posting a lost or found dog, to put streets and cross streets on the post, so if someone is looking they know right where to go.
Underwood hopes that people will ask for help through the site. “If you hear of a lost dog, cat or other pet, please post. If you have an overpopulation of ducks, please don’t release them into a pond, they won’t thrive. Get in touch with us so we can help. If someone has a repeat offender of a dog that continues to escape, we will get volunteers from the group to help fix the fencing so their animals will be secure.”
Microchipping is the one most valuable thing pet owners can do to ensure their pets are returned home. “Often, microchips are the only reason a pet gets home if they are lost or stolen. It’s $15 at the Humane Society, it’s totally worth it,” Underwood said. “We’ll do anything to save an animal, but if we come across a deceased one, we’ll scan for a microchip so we can at least give the owner closure.”
“Additionally, if you don’t want to leave tags on your dog’s collar, then just get a permanent marker and write the phone number on the collar. Sometimes people have the notion that you never want a dog to go to the shelter, or the ‘pound.’ But animal shelters are there to help return lost pets to their homes,” she said.
From a disappointing first experience, Melanie Underwood has found the best of social media, and thousands of pets and their families are the grateful recipients.
If you would like to help or donate to Lost Pets of Northern Arizona, email Underwood at lostpetsofnorthernarizona@gmail.com .
Days-Old Orphan Foal Thrives After Rescue from Middle of Highway
Melanie Underwood, who runs the wildly successful Facebook group, Lost Pets of Northern Arizona, will tell you that she has seen it all in rescue work. But maybe she wasn’t quite prepared to have a days-old foal fall into her care.
Several rescue groups do work on the Navajo reservation in Northeastern Arizona, helping to rescue and adopt dogs and cats. Residents of the reservation who also love animals often assist in the rescues. One such lady called Underwood in mid-July and told her she had stopped to pick up a tiny filly that was laying in the middle of the road. The lady meant to simply move what she thought was a deceased foal out of the way so it wouldn’t be hit. But when she approached the foal, she saw its chest move.
Putting the foal in her car, the lady called Underwood for advice. She told Underwood that her son would like to keep the foal, and so took it home. Underwood was worried.
“I told her it would need care, and milk every four hours,” she said. Initially, the foal, soon named Altaria, drank so much water that she passed out. Afraid Altaria needed vet care and not sure the son could care for her, the lady called Underwood and asked her to come and get the foal. They met in Flagstaff, and Underwood drove Altaria home and straight to the Prescott Animal Hospital Equine Center, where she received fluids and an iffy prognosis.
Altaria had a rough start – she wouldn’t drink the foal formula that Underwood brought home. Two days later, they were back at the veterinarian, who did a colostrum test. He determined that Altaria had nursed enough from her mother in her first 10-14 days to have a fighting chance at surviving without being ill or immune deficient. He tube fed Altaria that day, and then Underwood went on the hunt for goat’s milk. Since then, the foal has been slurping up six to eight gallons a day of the milk from a bucket, and thriving.
Finding enough goat’s milk for the now healthy and rapidly growing Altaria is a challenge. One family has been donating nine gallons a week, and others have given what they can. Underwood is beginning to supplement the milk with some of the formula, to stretch the supply, but she still needs to find a reliable source. Altaria will drink the milk for another four to six months. She’s also enjoying orchard grass, doesn’t think much about alfalfa, and turns her little nose up at grain. She also loves her salt lick.
Underwood has never had a horse, but you wouldn’t know it when you see the healthy and friendly Altaria. The foal has a mischievous streak, and isn’t past a well-aimed kick with her tiny hooves if she’s perturbed.
Altaria is in need of a foal halter, if anyone would like to donate one. Additionally, Underwood is seeking horse panels to enlarge her enclosure. Altaria was rescued under the umbrella of Yavapai Humane Trappers, a 501c3 organization, so any donations are tax deductible. A little advice wouldn’t go amiss either. “People have offered training, and I won’t turn it down!” she said.
Altaria has her own Facebook page, for those who would like to keep up with her progress – visit Altaria, the Baby Horse of 2020. If you can help with donations or goat’s milk, please email lostpetsofnorthernarizona@gmail.com .
