Shelter works to reunite lost pets with owners following new year celebrations

GEORGETOWN, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - While most of us were enjoying the fireworks our fury friends were not.

On Tuesday, the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter spent the day picking up pets who ran away overnight and they're trying to reunite them with their owners.

This is something the shelter does each New Year's Day.

Tuesday they picked up 5 dogs and 3 cats all suspected to have ran away during various fire work shows. While they tried to track down the owners most of them were not micro chipped.
 
Fireworks and pets do not mix.

“He was crossing and I barely missed him, luckily there were no cars behind me. I pulled over and he jumped right in my car,” said Lisa Salathia from Leander.

Salathia was out doing errands new year’s day when she came across a dog just roaming the streets. “I posted on next door and Facebook and no responses,” said Salathia.

She decided to take him to the shelter in Williamson County to see if they can help as she would like someone to do the same for her dog.

“I would jump for joy if someone found him did the right thing,” said Salathia.

Turns out those at the shelter suspect the dog, Jixer, is one of the many pets who escape their homes when fireworks go off during the new year.

"Most animals get super scared your cats and your dogs it just makes their anxiety levels go up,” said Morgan McHugh the Williamson County Regional Animal shelter animal health technician.

“When there's a loud noise dogs get super anxious so the best thing to do is keep a close eye on them don't leave them outside in the backyard unattended,” said McHugh.

Every year on Jan. 1, McHugh said they close the shelter to the public and focus on reuniting lost pets with their owners following new year celebrations. Turns out only 2 of the animals where micro chipped.

“If they come in with a microchip we're able to get them back with their owners pretty fast that's why it's so important for people. If you have an animal that's not micro chipped get them chipped because it makes it so much easier for us to give them back to you guys,” said McHugh.

For Jixer, he won’t be spending much more of 2019 away from his family. He was one of the fortunate pups to be micro-chipped and had his owners contacted.

If you do come across a pet roaming the streets, the Williamson County Shelter is urging you to only pick them up if it's safe to do so.