By Oguzhan Dincsoy, a University of Wollongong journalism graduate
Over the past 13 years, Nicole Harrison and Anne McNaughton have helped countless beloved pets from becoming strays via their Lost and Found Pets Illawarra Inc Facebook group.
Created in 2011 and with more than 47,000 members, the group is the first place many people will go to report a lost or found pet.
The group runs on volunteer power, with admins Nicole and Anne helped by three moderators, Scott, Janet and Sue.
Originally from North East England, Anne migrated to Australia in 1998. Her hobbies all involve animals and she has three Miniature Schnauzer dogs.
Nicole grew up in Sydney and spent time in the Illawarra for work before moving here permanently in 2007. Nicole enjoys visiting animal sanctuaries and rescues, loves photography, swimming, fostering kittens and spending time with her family and friends.
Nicole, who recently finished working at an art supplies business, and Anne, a former territory manager, both rely on their people and customer service skills from their occupations to administrate.
“I worked for a large distributor of food and beverages that involved a huge amount of customer service and liaison and kept up my problem-solving and people skills, which are very necessary when dealing with people who are upset and have lost or found pets,” Anne said.
Nicole said: “I had multiple roles, from customer service, warehouse managing [to] packing orders, administration. Due to it being such a varied role, I became adept at multi-tasking and assisting people from all walks of life, which are both large parts of being admin."
The group provides many services to help reunite lost pets with their owners.
“We have an amazing group who work together to reunite, scan, transport and hold lost pets so that they do not end up injured, permanently lost or in pounds,” Nicole said.
Nicole highlights the importance of having your pets microchipped.
“One of the biggest challenges I find is people not microchipping their pets, especially outdoor cats. I know there are financial constraints for some people, but it really is the easiest way to get your lost pet home safely,” she said.
“We fact check as much as we can and we always advise anyone who finds an animal to get proof of ownership before handing them over to anyone claiming to be the owner.”
After earning the community's support and trust, the group has also branched out into rescuing and rehoming pets.
“We have a Lost and Found Rescue page and I also foster small dogs and puppies and cats and kittens,” Anne said.
As the admins, together Nicole and Anne spend more than 50 hours a week working on admin tasks, monitoring the group, organising transport and care for lost pets, writing and scheduling posts, and replying to messages from community members.
Anne is motivated to reunite owners and pets, and to prevent pets being held in pounds and their owners’ incurring fines.
“Although I don’t do this for thanks, the obvious relief of the elderly man or lady who are missing their companion, or the family who have lost their beloved pet is a reward in itself,” she said.
Pets go missing nearly every day. Anne and Nicole say the number of people willing to help out has increased, but it is still not enough and they urge all pet owners in the Illawarra to join the group.
Posts are strictly limited to lost and found pets. Negative posts about vets or other organisations, rehoming posts, random questions, abuse, bullying and conflict are not allowed, with automatic restrictions set up to ensure that inappropriate posts are not published.
“We’ve created another Facebook group, Illawarra Pet Q&A for any pet-related questions, so that people had a place to post instead of our group,” Nicole said.
Nicole has six tips to keep your pet secure and get them home quickly:
- Make sure your pet's microchip details are up to date;
- Put a collar and tag on pets that can wear them;
- Make sure yards are secure;
- Put padlocks on gates;
- Fix holes and loose palings;
- Bring your pets inside if there is a storm or fireworks.