Agency uses social media to reunite pets with ‘parents’

Social media services have become a powerful tool to reunite pet “parents” with their lost animals, according to a private South Jersey animal control agency.   

Linda Gentille of Shore Animal Control, which provides stray animal services to about a dozen towns in Atlantic and Cape May counties, said Facebook and other social media have changed the way they help bring lost pets home.

“Once we share it, it goes to about 50,000 different viewers, and then they share it,” she said. “There is a domino effect, and the more views we get, the quicker we are able to return a pet to an owner.”

The agency does more than post photos of found animals, Gentille said.

“We just recently had a  cat that was lost for three months, and we had people searching because of our posts online, and it was just recently found after three months.”

Gentille said the group typically returns one or two lost pets each week.