Chinook police officer launches "Blaine County Lost and Found Animals" Facebook site

Chinook Police Officer Jon Klobofski admits he has a soft spot for lost animals. In his job he sees lost or abandoned animals that are not claimed, even when it appears they've had good care and are likely missed by some owner. When a dispatcher at the Blaine County Sheriff's Office posted a photo of a dog someone had found on the local yard sale website, Klobofski got an idea that might help more efficiently reunite lost pets and their human owners. He created "Blaine County Lost and Found Animals."

Klobofski said, "I'd watched the incredible growth of users on Facebook over the last few years. I got the idea of creating a public group on Facebook for people who owned pets and wanted to help unite lost animals and their owners." He went on to explain, "People who have pets usually also know the pets of their friends and neighbors. They are attuned to seeing an animal out of place and, often, even know who owns the pet. Once they join the Facebook group they will get automatic notifications when someone posts about a lost or found animal."

And many friends of animals seem to appreciate the website's goal. Klobofski said, "In the first 24 hours after I created the group on Facebook there were 74 people who joined." By the evening of the second day the number was in the 80's. Some people who joined said they were encouraging entire groups of people they regularly posted with to join the public group.

Klobofski said, "Once this site gets going I could foresee someone posting a photo of a runaway animal on the site and within hours the animal would be located." He added, "Pet owners would be advised to have a digital photo of their animal(s) so in case of a runaway they can quickly post a photo asking for help in locating the animal." People who find an animal that appears to be lost, are asked to take a photo of the animal, post the photo and add a contact number. Klobofski believes the site could help locate all sorts of missing animals-not just dogs and cats, even horses or rabbits, etc., the possibilities are endless.

Readers can go to Facebook and search for 'Blaine County Lost and Found Animals' to see the reaction to the site. There's also a photo of the first 'found' animal to be presented on the site. The little, white dog was found by a motorist headed to Havre from Chinook. The motorist brought the dog to city hall and a photo was taken and posted. Klobofski said, "This dog didn't have a collar but it's obviously been well taken care of. It might even have run off from someone who was traveling through the area. Hopefully we find the owner. If we don't, we'll try to find a new home for the dog."

There is some potential savings to the city with the creation of the website. Unclaimed animals are housed at the Blaine County Veterinary Service and Klobofski said, "Sometimes they don't have space for animals. Being able to quickly reunite animals and owners will be a definite win-win all around."