How to Use Social Media in your Pets Rescue

Social media is a great way to get the message out to your community. There are so many missing dogs that despite your best efforts, your post will continue to get moved down the chain. Even if someone saw your dog, it’s unlikely that someone will stop to scroll back through social media to find your post, however long ago it was. We recommend that you use verbiage such as this which encourages people to be more efficient.

Social media verbiage to copy/paste

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

• Take a screen shot of this flyer and save it to your camera roll.
• If you see this dog, DO NOT CHASE, WALK/DRIVE TOWARDS, CALL OR WHISTLE!
• Call the phone number on the flyer immediately to report the sighting.
• Make a note of which direction the dog went when you saw it!

It’s also important to not get consumed with monitoring these social media platforms constantly. The goal is to share the flyer with the public and have the community call you with a sighting. They should not be documenting a sighting in the comments.

DO NOT post sightings of your dog!

We know that it’s human nature to be joyous when there is a sighting of your beloved furry family member and want to share it with the world! Unfortunately, telling the public specifically where your dog is, can spark well intentioned people who want to help, but may cause more harm than good. More people searching is not always better. Having too many people searching for your pet on foot can cause them to continue to move, causing a bottleneck in your search and rescue strategy.

Your goal is to keep your dog calm and brave to stay in the area. Doing so requires patience oftentimes and keeping foot traffic to a minimum.

If you want to post to social media, we encourage you to refrain from posting updates on the location of your dog. It’s important to not rely solely on Social Media as paper flyers are THE MOST IMPORTANT!

Prime spots to post on Social Media would be:

Facebook – Your personal page as well as lost dog groups in your local area and local outdoor hiking/walking, biking clubs, local dog clubs.

• We also recommend posting in the following places in the Pima County Area:
  • Straydar https://www.facebook.com/groups/straydar
  • StraydarAZ https://www.facebook.com/groups/798423246969450/
  • Lost Dogs of Arizona https://www.facebook.com/lostdogsaz/
  • Share from Red Collar Rescue & Recovery’s Facebook or Instagram pages.
  • Share the digital flyer that Red Collar will create for you & place it on the appropriate “Lost Dog Community Hub in Tucson - Marana - Oro Valley” or the “Lost Dog Community Hub in Green Valley - Vail - Sahuarita”. 
  • Also remember that when your dog is found, you will need to update your posts to report the dog is found. 

We recommend that you Copy/Paste the verbiage highlighted below into your posts. It saves you time & keeps it simple. Along with your verbiage in your post should be a jpg of your flyer. We also recommend that you select to TURN COMMENTING OFF. By doing this, you gain the freedom to not feel compelled to waste time on social media and focus on your search & rescue efforts. If the public sees your dog, they should be calling the number on the flyer.. Not posting comments in a social media post that will just delay you getting to the location ASAP.

NextDoor App – You will need to be a member of the neighborhood so if you’re not, ask a neighbor if they can post your digital flyer for you. If your dog is lost in a neighborhood that you do not live in, consider asking a community member that you hand a flyer to in the neighborhood if they would be willing to share your digital flyer in the NextDoor app.

Neighbors by Ring App – You do not need to have a Ring camera to use this app. Simply download and find the neighborhood that your dog went missing. You can make a Missing Pet Post to share your digital flyer.