Lost Pet Tracking For Leo

With no sightings of Leo in close to two weeks now, we need to bring Sam from Pure Gold Pet Trackers in once more to see what she and her tracking dog can tell us about where Leo has been since, as is apparent, he passed through Douglas Park.

Thanks very much to those who have contributed to the fund so far, and we have raised almost enough for the tracking session that we need. So that we do not have to cut the track short due to insufficient funds, as we had to do last time, we are asking for more contributions. Thanks in advance for anything you can contribute. Please see the ChipIn icon on the menu at right for an easy way to contribute using PayPal.

Our plan is to schedule that session for Wednesday, and to go for as long as possible.

Leo Still Proving Elusive

I know it's hard to keep the faith when there are no sightings for as long as it's been, but my personal feeling is that it's still worth the effort to try to reach more people. One of the volunteers made a suggestion that may be helpful -- since we believe that a good way of reaching people would be to put fliers out at shopping centers (I like the 1/4 page fliers on car windshields for that type of fliering location), we should post a list of shopping center locations. I agree, it sounds like a good idea, but I don't know where/how to get one other than to produce it ourselves.

I've made an attempt to start this by going to the websites for Harris Teeter, Giant Food, Safeway, WholeFoods, CVS, and Staples, and finding their locations in Arlington VA. I'm looking for a volunteer to perhaps use the same method, searching on more stores and on restaurants in Arlington, Falls Church and Alexandria, to produce a more complete list of shopping centers in the region, which we can then make available for any/all Leo supporters interested in spreading the word -- further out -- that he's still lost, and we are still looking for him. Please contact me if you can take on that project.

The shopping areas I found in my initial attempt are below. If you can take on any of these areas, please do so and let me know. I'd like to be able to report out via the blog if some of these ares are being covered.

Ballston Commons - 4238 Wilson Blvd, Arlington VA 22203
Hyde Park Plaza - 600 North Glebe Rd, Arlington VA 22203
Lee Harrison Shop'g Cntr - 2425 N Harrison St, Arlington VA 22207
Lyon Village - 3115 Lee Hwy, Arlington VA 22201
Pentagon Row - 900 Army Navy Dr, Arlington VA 22202
Shirley Park - 2901-11 S Glebe Rd, Arlington VA 22206
Village of Shirlington - 4250 Campbell Ave, Arlington VA 22206
Virginia Square - 3450 Washington Blvd, Arlington VA 22201
Bailey's Cross Roads - 3480 S Jefferson St, Falls Church VA 22041
1100 Wilson Blvd, Rosslyn VA 22209
1525 Wilson Blvd, Arlington VA 22209
1555 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington VA 22209
2121 15th Street North, Arlington VA 22201
2408 Columbia Pike, Arlington VA 22204
256 North Glebe Road, Arlington VA 22203
2601 Columbia Turnpike, Arlington VA 22204
2700 Wilson Blvd, Arlington VA 22201
3713 Lee Hwy, Arlington VA 22207
3804 Wilson Blvd, Arlington VA 22203
4709 Lee Highway, Arlington VA 22207
5101 Wilson Blvd, Arlington VA 22205

Update -- thanks to a couple of volunteers that are now working on this list.

Leo Is Still Lost, Still Being Sought

Yes, it's been over a week since we've heard of anyone getting a glimpse of Leo, but we are continuing to the outreach about Leo's plight, and asking everyone to do the same. If you read the comments to the posts, you can see that a few folks are doing independent work to spread the word. I know from emails I get that many others are doing the same, and coming up with creative ways to do so. Thanks for that!

If you want to get outside this weekend and participate, the best advice we can give is to print out either the business cards or the 4/page fliers and go to shopping centers or metro stations or wherever you can find lots of people coming & going, or their parked cars at least, and hit them with these smaller versions of the flier. Arlington, Alexandria and Falls Church are all good areas to do this.

With that kind of outreach plus continuing to email the flier and post to electronic message boards and listservs that you can think of, we'll get another sighting yet.

First responders needed to be on hand

Leo volunteers had a flurry of activity this morning when we got a sighting email that turned out to be another dog. We had the opportunity to see that we were able to get a volunteer on the scene within minutes, but a little of that was luck. Some days it's not so easy to get a volunteer on the scene when a sighting call comes in. With that in mind, we would love to hear from more people that are in a position to resond to a sighting call in short order. We would provide questions to ask the sighter, and you would want to keep on hand: some kibble to put down a feeding station, and some fliers to put up in the area of the sighting.

Email me if you are interested, as we believe it's more a question of when there's another sighting -- not if.

Nancy

End of Tuesday Update

Lots of outreach today! Since we don't have sightings to focus on and we are concerned that Leo may have migrated out of Douglas Park, we are concentrating on outreach, and we are expanding the area we are covering. Thanks to the numerous volunteers who helped out today: at the metro station, handing out business cards; internet research to develop emails lists; and emailing the media advisory, flyer, and a picture to area radio stations and listservs. Area vets and pet sitters have been contacted. Additionally, we're lining up shelter checks, and continuing to monitor the feeding station at Douglas Park. Want to get involved? Got an idea about how to help spread the word? Let us know!

Fundraising has begun so that as soon as we have another sighting, we will be able to bring the lost pet tracker in immeditely. However, it will take as much as 2 days before your contribution will be viewable on this website (because the PayPal account was just established). Thank you for the contributions made and not yet showing, and for future contributions that will be made!

Thanks to everyone who is helping bring Leo back to safety!

Daphne and Nancy

Fundraising for a New Tracking Session, and Outreach Efforts

Hi all!

Leo's still lost, and we're still looking. We've got two efforts to push at this time.

Outreach We want to expand the outreach to notify even more people that Leo is missing so that we can get more sightings. We're confident that more outreach = more sightings. Some recent efforts in addition to fliering include a Letter to the Editor in the Alexandria Gazette Packet, and both FindToto robo calls and bilingual post cards with Leo's cute mug sent to neighbors surrounding the sighting locations from last week. (Thank you so much to those supporters who helped to set up and fund these efforts!) We want to spread the word even further by posting information about Leo on neighborhood listserves, home-owner associations, blogs, and other venues. If you're on such a list and able to post for us--please let us know and we'll get you electronic version of the press release, the flyer, and a picture. Leave a comment if you're able to post for us!

Fundraising for Lost Pet Tracking Leo's foster parents have now established a ChipIn account to raise money to have Pure Gold Pet Trackers back to the new sighting area to see where Leo has been traveling recently. The moment we hit the $300 mark, we are calling PGPT. If a handful of Leo's supporters can each chip in a little bit towards that service, that money can be raised quickly and we can get that track under way. Please see the ChipIn menu item on the right side of the page to contribute easily and securely via PayPal. Funds raised will be turned over to ARCBCR to then pay for the lost pet track.

Many thanks to all who have helped so far--and all who will continue to help!

Daphne and Nancy

PS This is what the postcard looks like that has been sent out to 300 neighbors surrounding Douglas Park (Quincy & 16th Streets in south Arlington):

Status as of Late Sunday, June 21st

If anything encouraging happened today, I didn't learn about it. I did speak to a few volunteers, one of which was going out to flier, and another that was going to do some internet research to develop another email distribution list so we can get more fliers circulating that way. I've also found out from our feeding station monitors that at last check, "the good stuff" (smelly cat food) has been eaten but the kibble has been left at our feeding station. This doesn't give us any indication that it is or is not Leo eating from our feeding station. But we will keep it going for at least another week, even if we can't tell for sure if Leo is eating from it.

There are still numerous activities that we need going on now, each of which needs to be high priority:

1) Going on the belief that Leo may still be hanging around the Douglas Park area, we need to keep two things going in that area -- a) the feeding station we have plus 1-2 more, which requires monitors, and b) the spreading of the word to residents who see him to call 804-337 -9715, which requires fliering volunteers and canvassing volunteers.

2) To avoid putting all of our eggs in one basket, we still need to reach out to others outside of the Douglas Park area to let them know about Leo, as he can at any time, and he conceivably has already, migrated out of Douglas Park. There are many ways that Leo supporters can do this on their own, such as: fliering windshields of cars at shopping areas; posting the URL for this blog to any and all types of electronic bulletin boards (see the menu at right for a sample); emailing the flier to anyone and everyone you can think of -- or sending me a list of emails that I can roll into an email distribution list. We also need a press release and a distribution list of publications and media personnel to send it to.

I feel pretty certain that some folks are doing some of this and not reporting it; it would be a huge help to the effort if you email me directly whatever you are doing. Someone else may do the same thing you do and we'd like to avoid duplication of effort.

Let's all hope for another sighting to come through on Monday. Who wants to be the hero and go get it by canvassing the area around Douglas Park?

Nancy Despeaux
TesterDesp@aol.com

Early Saturday Afternoon Update

I’m thrilled to be able to say that one of Leo’s supporters has stepped forward to order, and fund, a FindToto voicemail blast in the 22204 area code. I’ve been worried that the pouring rain will keep some folks from going out and fliering or canvassing today, and this will really help towards filling that gap if that’s the case. Thanks for this boost goes to Susan who, as I told her, will definitely put herself on a higher cloud in heaven with this!

From some of our past lost dog searches, some of us have learned the value of hitting commerce areas and putting ¼ page fliers and even business cards (available for download from the menu at right) on windshields of parked cars. One of our volunteers who is doing that today is making it a family affair by having her kids put them into Ziploc sandwich or snack baggies to weather proof them. There’s nothing like giving a job to a kid, and teaching them the value of giving back to the community. Hopefully you can make use of that idea in your home and with your family too, even if it's to spark an entirely different idea!

And finally, with the heavy rain, we are interested in upgrading the feeding stations from open air to covered, meaning something like a cage style crate with a tarp or shower curtain, or a plastic travel crate – size enough for a 45 lb dog. One of our feeding station monitors has scared up a pup tent, but if we can have backups and cover for additional feeding stations, we want to reach out for them now. Please post a coment or email me if you have something to lend.

Nancy Despeaux
TesterDesp@aol.com

Make a Difference This Weekend

If you're lucky enough to have a dad or be a dad, then I hope you'll be celebrating Father's Day this weekend, as I plan to do this evening and tomorrow evening. And if you like your weekends to be a combination of fun and then also feeling useful, I've got that other part for you -- make a difference in a dog's life by donating a couple of hours to helping in the search for Leo!

Here are some ways to do that despite the fact that we don't have a specific fliering session planned at this time:

FLIERING DOUGLAS PARK

When & where: for this weekend’s fliering, we aren’t naming a meeting time and place, but we’re asking anyone that is able to help at a time convenient to you to please view the map, linked from the menu at right, to see the highest priority area for fliering. This area is the Douglas Park area, and only a few very small sections within the community have already been covered. Getting it all covered is critical. After you flier, please email me the areas you are able to cover so that I can mark the map, and the next team of volunteers will know what areas are still uncovered.

Production of fliers: we regret that this weekend, we aren’t able to offer the flier supplies to volunteers, and we thank you in advance for adding the labor and/or cost of flier production to the contribution of your time to help Leo! If your printer is currently out of ink like mine is, don’t forget Office Depot, FedEx Kinkos and Staples for printing unless you have a relationship established with a different printer altogether. Also critical is the weather-proofing of fliers, which can be accomplished by any of these options: sheet protectors, large ziploc bags, or clear contact paper.


CANVASSING DOUGLAS PARK: If you’d be happier talking to people, this is another really important task at this time! We have good to reason to believe that Leo has been in this neighborhood, but we need to
1) figure out if he’s still in the area,
2) let people know who to contact if they see him,
3) find out who can offer their property as a site for a feeding station,
4) inform people that they should NOT chase him or call his name, but just call the number, and
5) ask people to help circulate the word about Leo to their friends and neighbors.

For this job, please have plenty of the business card size notices and the ¼ page fliers. Use the Douglas Park area map to know where to canvass. If you encounter people that believe they may have seen Leo, some of the questions to ask are: when & where was the dog seen, what was the direction that the dog was moving from and to, how fast did he seem to be moving

FLIERING OTHER AREAS: We also believe in fliering other areas where people congregate and then go to their homes in all pockets of Arlington County and Northern Virginia, keeping in mind that Leo can move on. Here are just a very few examples of places where you could go and hang fliers or possibly put 1/4 fliers on car windshields in parking lots:

Parks, Trails & Shelters: http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/ParksRecreation/scripts/parks/ParksRecreationScriptsParksParks.aspx

Libraries, most or all of which have bulletin boards: http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/Libraries/about/LibrariesAboutHours.aspx

We think area pools are a good place to spread the word via fliers, and this is a source of info for them: http://arlingtondpca.homestead.com/POOLS.pdf

Shopping areas with stores like Giant, Safeway, Harris Teeter, Bloom, Whole Foods or CVS – with parking lots that turn over throughout the day; the ¼ fliers on the windshields of these cars spread the word everywhere. Do you know those shopping centers or can you find them on the internet in area code 22204?

If you want to cover one of the areas yourself today, you could post a comment and others can see that you're doing this, and they can decide on other options. I'll recieve your message as an email if so and I may be able to help from a distance (but I can't be on site today).

Here's hoping for an exciting next blog entry -- happy hunting!

Nancy Despeaux
TesterDesp@aol.com

Two Possible Leo Sightings!

In case you didn't know it, fliering for Leo is a great way to generate Leo sightings! That's just what happened when one of Leo's supporters was out this evening fliering in the area around Douglas Park. It's always a good idea to talk to people that you encounter as you flier -- engage them in the search by making it a little personal, show them the picture, make a statement about Leo being scared and not knowing the area. This evening's fliering volunteer knows this, and she spoke with more than one person that has seen a dog in the area that may have been Leo. Here's what our volunteer reports:

"I went around the Douglas Park area and spoke to a few people who had seen him. One boy lives on 18th street (that is on the perimeter of the park ) thinks that he saw him on Wednesday morning. He was going home to look on the website to confirm that it was the same dog that he saw. " This would have been about 24 hours after the previous sighter saw what may have been Leo. Then of the second sighting, our volunteer said:

"The other family that said they saw him confirmed that they had seen him on Wednesday night at the corner of Quincy and 16th. He tried to play with their dog but their dog was scared of him because he had apparently been attacked before by a dog so he doesn't like dogs coming up to him. He then ran down the path towards the swings. They remembered him because they looked around for his owner but didn't see anyone around." This would have been Wednesday, June 17th, about 8pm, right there in Douglas Park. The family was showed the flier with one of Leo's pictures before making this statement. (Note that they found the dog they saw to be interested in playing with their dog. This sounds great, but in general, bringing a leashed dog to the area to try to draw Leo out is so risky and likely to backfire that it is not recommended. And of course we don't want anyone unleashing their dog with the idea of putting both dogs on equal footing.)

In addition to these sightings, the volunteer also told us: "I also spoke to several other people on Quincy that said that people had asked them who the owner of the dog was that was running around. I really think that he's around there but he won't be for long if it isn't literally plastered with fliers on every street and they need to be put in the direction of the traffic. i.e. so that people in cars and walking don't have to turn to look at the ad, it kind of meets them at eye level. "

I know from wandering around Douglas Park for a while on Wednesday evening is that it would be a great place to hang from the perspective of a dog seeking to avoid capture. We feel very positive about pursuing this area to look for Leo, and spread the word about him. And fortunately we have a feeding station already set up in the area, but based on these possible sightings, we need to add 1-2 more feeding stations. This means we need more people to monitor the feeding stations. So here's a run-down of what feeding stations are all about:

1) once early in the day and once later in the day, a volunteer goes to the feeding station to see if the food left during the previous FS check has been eaten. (Basically, the volunteer needs to supply the food, and also, note that water at the feeding station makes it a better FS.)
1a) if the food hasn't been eaten, it needs to be pitched and replaced with the same type of food -- kibble-based and then topped with something smelly like canned cat food to draw Leo over to it
1b) if it has been eaten, then we add a feature to the feeding station to determine who's eating from it -- there are several ways to do this
2) once we determine that Leo is eating from our feeding stations, we reduce the number to just one, and
3) when he has an established pattern of eating from the one feeding station, we replace it with a humane trap. By this time we've increased the quality of the food being offered. This can take days to even weeks to get him to this point, starting when we get those feeding stations down and volunteers monitoring them

So, can you help out with feeding stations? Please email me if you can. Leo could get impatient waiting for us to put out the word and put out the food! Even just one time checking a feeding station will help.

I'm going to follow this post up with another one first thing Saturday morning with information about how you can help this weekend -- the sooner the better. If you can flier, please get started printing the flier or ordering copies from a printing place, and don't forget to weather-proof them with sheet protectors, large ziploc bags, or clear contact paper. Then check the blog Saturday for direction on where to go. Oh and print some business cards too which are great to hand out to people you talk to.

Nancy Despeaux
TesterDesp@aol.com

Thursday Afternoon

It's raining cats and dogs, as they say, here and now, and I can't help but think about Leo. There's so much about him that's unknown (did we tell you about the bullet in his rump?), and one of the unknowns is how he is in rain, and thunderstorms. But as common as it is for dogs to "not like" that stuff, shall we say, I'm feeling miserable for him. And I really want to help him come in out of the rain.

We've had some fantastic volunteers that have materialized in the last few days, and it's great to see people coming together for a dog in need like Leo is. Thank you all -- Leo thanks you even if he doesn't know it! He's got food now (if he'll go where it is now probably getting soggy), and a growing number of eyes looking out for him. Those are good things.

It's now been more than 48 hours since our one sighting occurred, and I'm still happy we had it but I'm down off my high from finding out about it. To say I'm looking for the next sightings would be an understatement. History tells us it will take a good number of sightings to lead us to recovering him. I do know the sightings will come in as long as we are still spreading the word that the wandering dog with the cute mug does have people looking for him. Leo is without a doubt being seen, but by people that haven't come accross the fliers, the blog, the Facebook group, the Craigslist postings and all other manner of notice we're putting out. So they don't know who to tell. So we keep coming up with new ways to put the word out.

What are your ideas? I'll bet you have some, so please share!

Finally - A Good Possibility Sighting!

A woman called today who saw a dog matching Leo's description yesterday morning - in Arlington. Her backyard has a view into Douglas Park and she saw an unattended dog trotting along. After it nagged her for a while that the dog was unattended, she went to the internet and found the blog with the pictures. So while she can't guarantee it, there are enough pictures to compare the dog she saw to that we are ready to focus on the area of Douglas Park in Arlington. Given how mobile Leo seems to be from last Friday's tracking session, it's no surprise he is now 2 miles northwest of where he started.

And we need swift action -- today if anyone is available, tonight if you're not available until tonight. We need to get fliers up in the area there, as there are none yet. We'll work with the caller to get a feeding station on her property, but also want to look at other possible spots to put feeding stations around that area. If we get enough people out this evening, some canvassing of the neighbors may bring us more sightings; definitely talk to people while fliering if you can flier.

So if you can participate this afternoon or this evening, please email me right away. I may not be able to respond immediately if you are not available until this evening, but I will respond as quickly as possible.

(Don't be fooled by my calm demeanor -- I'm VERY excited!!!)

Thanks to the folks running the Douglas Park Yahoo Group for posting Leo's blog information! (Can you get a notice on your HOA's website in case Leo travels into your neighborhood?)

Nancy Despeaux
TesterDesp@aol.com

Status as of Tuesday, June 16th

Thanks very much to the folks that helped out yesterday and today in assorted ways to spread the word about Leo and his plight. The efforts are working, and I'm hearing from more people able to help in small ways. But there’s still so much uncovered ground, so we need lot more people that can participate.

Direct Mailing We’ve got people developing email distribution lists and fax lists for sending the flier in those quick and easy ways, and physical address lists for delivering the flier to some good spots that have no email or fax. And we’ve got people delivering the fliers to those spots and others. We need more of this, and we’re calling on anyone that can do some of this. Please post a comment (which also sends me an email) or email me directly if you can develop these address lists and/or make deliveries of the flier.

Internet Posting We've got people posting to the internet, and this is where we need a LOT more people helping. Do you know of any electronic bulletin boards you could post about Leo to? See the menu at the right, the "Other Links" section, the link to the Sample Bulletin Board Posting for Leo? That’s a posting that I put (hastily, I would add) on the ArlingtonDogs forum. You may encounter bulletin boards of this type that you could post to about Leo, to spread the word – please do so! (And if you let me know about it, I’ll put it on a list of sites to update when Leo is found.) Please make sure you include the blog address if you post, and if you can attach a photo, much better!

Checking Shelters I'm looking for someone convenient to the Arlington animal shelter and someone convenient to the Alexandria shelter to visit these shelters. Reports have been made with each shelter - since the first day after Leo went missing. (Alexandria is closed for viewing on Wednesdays; Arlington is closed on Tuesdays.)

Incentive for Spreading the Word And in a shameless attempt to get any business or organization with a website to find a way to link to Leo’s blog, we’re now offering a “Friends of Leo” Link Exchange opportunity. See this new section in the right-hand menu. Have you already gotten Leo’s story told on a business or organization website. Let me know and I’ll add the link to the Friends of Leo section. Know anyone that needs some incentive to help spread the word about Leo on their website? Let ‘em know that – hopefully for a limited time! – we will gladly provide a reciprocal link on this website.

OK, that's all for now, other than to say that no, we've still had no sightings of Leo . . . but I still believe that whoever has seen him simply did not know who's looking for him.

Current Efforts to Find Leo

Thanks to all who responded yesterday to the call for help, and fliered, and wrote in with suggestions for spreading the word about Leo! It's great to see people pulling together to help an innocent dog who didn't know what a good thing he had when he bolted!

To those who didn't get time to respond yesterday, I hope you'll do so today as we do need more folks helping. To implement the suggestions sent in yesterday, more volunteers -- each playing small roles -- are needed. Can you start by committing to one task, and see if it leaves you with time for another? Think of Leo!

Speaking of Leo, this is important -- if you see him, DO NOT CHASE him! He'll run from you, and you won't be able to catch him. Also, don't bother calling his name since he doesn't know it. You may have seen from the photo slide show of him on the blog that his name was Miles before, but we don't believe he knows that name either. So don't call out his name, but do call the number -- 804-337-9715

And speaking of the number, if you printed business cards out, please note that as of last night, the business cards file was updated. There are now more cards per page, and (ahem) I needed to correct the phone number on them (she said with embarrassment). Oh I also switched out the photo to one that allows more cards per page because it's portrait rather than landscape.

If you get the Alexandria Gazette Packet, be looking in the Letters to the Editor section in that paper this week. I sent in a letter in an attempt to get eyes on Leo's website, with his picture and all the info, so we can start getting the sightings that will lead to his full recovery. Fingers crossed that the letter is printed!

(By the way, you can reach me by clicking the "NHD" hyperlink in the Contributors section on the menu at right. I try to avoid listing my email in blog posts to ward off spammers that troll blog posts for email addresses, but I'm reachable by email.)

Many Ways to Help Spread the Word About Leo

Right now we're in a situation where we don't have Leo's location pinpointed to even a neighborhood or community, or if he's in the city of Alexandria v Arlington County, or moving between the two, nor do we know if he has been taken in by someone. But since he has tags, we hope he hasn't either lost them or been taken in by someone who is ignoring the tags that will bring him home.

To me this means that we need to rely on spreading the word far and wide -- so that anyone who has seen him or contained him, or who does so in the future, knows who is looking for him and who to contact. This can be done with: fliers, etc; direct mail campaigns; media campaigns like radio bulletins and stories in local papers and on the TV news; and virtual posting on the internet. We need help -- a lot of it -- to accomplish these.

Fliers -- my personal feeling is that the best use of fliering time is to hit commerce areas and put 1/4 page fliers on windshields. And this can be done over and over. People will leave these shopping areas and go anywhere and everywhere. Any commerce areas between Quaker Lane and Route 1 are good for this. Can you do some of this? The 4-to-a-page fliers are downloadable from the menu at right. If you can and/or do this, please post a comment to the blog. This isn't for just today; it's for every day until Leo is brought to safety or at least until we begin getting sighting notices.

Direct mail -- this means emailing the flier to anyone and everyone. Can you push the flier out to everyone you know in the northern Virginia area (individuals, businesses, listservs for any types of organizations, Yahoo group owners, etc)? Please put the blog address in the body of every email! Or if you can send email addresses for us to send the email out (to avoid duplication), you can send it to my email, below my signature. The email addresses you send will be used as a bcc and only for a one-time mailing of the Leo flier. They won't be shared with anyone.

Media -- we need to pull together a press release that will catch the attention of people with the local papers and radio and TV stations that decide what gets printed and aired, AND to develop a list of email addresses for those individuals, AND to conduct follow up calls after the press release is sent (meaning we need the phone numbers too). Can you help with composing the press release, collecting the email addresses and phone list for it, or making the follow-up calls? To do this, it doesn't matter where you live; living nearby isn't necessary to help out in this way.

Virtual posting -- this means visiting the assorted missing pet sites with formats such as classified advertising or bulletin boards to post the notice about Leo. I have a list of about 30 such sites which could be divvied up among different volunteers so that it can get done quickly. This is a good job for people who want to support Leo's foster parents but don't live in the area or can't be available on site to flier or search.

Also in the category of spreading the word --

Notifying area animal hospitals -- there are a ton of them, and those with email addresses can be covered in the direct mail campaigns. Those without them need the flier delivered or snail mailed. Who can help with that? Email me, please.

Who can think of other ways to spread the word about Leo and his plight? Then as for searching for Leo, we can't suggest where to search that he might be encountered wandering, but there are obvious places that he can be searched in the event that he has been contained, by anyone:

Checking the shelters -- In addition to spreading the word, Leo's foster parents need help checking the local shelters, which really should be done daily if possible -- and there are at least two shelters that need to be checked: Arlington and Alexandria. Are you in a position to commit to one visit of one shelter, or more? Best if we have a team of folks sharing the load for these visits.

Virtual tracking -- The list of missing pet websites I mentioned above are sites for both posting notices that Leo is missing, and checking to see if he's been taken in by someone. The preference would be for the checking to be done daily until Leo is recovered, so a team of volunteers for this means that no one has too much to do every day, or doesn't need to check every day. Who wants to be a part of this team? You can live anywhere and have only odd hours of availability for this.

So much to do, so little time. Remember, "it takes a village" applies here. Leo's foster parents, Hilary and Jeremiah, can't do it all, so they need YOUR help. Everyone doing just a task or two will make it possible to bring Leo back.

Nancy Despeaux
TesterDesp@aol.com

Fliering Sat June 13th

Today the fliering was concentrated in the areas at the end of Leo's travels as we know them from the track run on him yesterday, Friday, by Sam & Salsa of Pure Gold Pet Trackers, with Jeremiah accompanying them. The last leg of the track had Leo traveling in a west to east direction. Fliering was done to the north of that end point, in what is a mixed use are with both apartments and numerous small strip shopping centers. Fliers were posted at all of these shopping centers Saturday afternoon. Fliering was also done south of the end point, along Russell Road to Braddock Road. (Leo had crossed Braddock for a time in his travels, south of that intersection.) Some fliering was also done on Monticello Blvd to Summit Avenue. The map shows the areas fliered.

Since we have only the track and have had no sightings of Leo, we need to spread the word that he is missing as far and wide as possible. We're posting to Craigslist, and we've done some emailing and faxing of the flier to listservs, schools, places of worship -- where we are able to obtain emails and fax numbers. We need to build a much, much larger email list to send the flier out to. Can you help us build that list? We also need to send a press release out to the media. Can you help with that? These are priorities for now.

We also need more people to flier on Sunday, so if you can do that, please post a comment on the blog.

Tracking Report from 6/12/09 Track

This is what Sam, with Pure Gold Pet Trackers, had to say about the track yesterday, late afternoon/early evening:

• Leo's track ran down into the woods behind the foster's home and came out on Gunston at the bottom of the hill.
• He continued to make big loopy circles around the complex, investigating every backyard and hillside in Parkfairfax for quite some time and then he got on Valley Dr where he went all the way down past Braddock.
• On the other side of Braddock he cut through a couple of yards and down a steep hillside to Timber Branch Pkwy.
• There is a creek that runs down the middle between the East and West side of that road. He played in the creek for a block or two then came back up to the road and crossed back over Braddock heading back towards the foster's complex.
• He turned at a little park on Kenwood and cut back out to the street then turned right on Fern and out to Quaker.
• He turned at the church on Oakcrest Dr and then followed that back to Kenwood and that back to Valley Dr.
• He turned left on Valley heading once again toward the Foster's apartment complex but instead of turning up Martha Custis he went to the bottom of the hill and turned right on Tennesee Ave.
• We followed for several blocks but had to call it when we realized that we were already over the 3 hour time limit.
• Advised fosters to get good poster coverage this weekend to see if we can generate some sightings.
  

Tracking with Sam & Salsa

Hoo boy. Ugh.

Those are the words I have to use to describe how huge is the area that Leo is traveling, according to what we've learned from the track that was done on his scent this afternoon. It's an enormous area, and he's covered it from overnight Saturday night until Thursday. The track is mapped on this blog in the Leo Links section at right; take a look.

This area is about 95% residential, and covers a lot of ground, so we are working to formulate a strategy for covering such a wide area that is almost entirely homes -- single family homes, townhouses and condos, and some apartments. It will be hard to cover it all with just fliers, and hard to cover it any other way, as well. We are looking for ways to reach as many people as we can, knowing that we will only be able to get so many fliers out this weekend unless we have an incredible show of volunteers on Saturday afternoon.

We do know of findtoto.com and it has a competitor; Leo's rescue organization has agreed to pay for the track with Pure Gold Pet Trackers, and their funds won't stretch enough to cover the Find Toto calls as well. So that resource may go untapped.

Do you know Alexandria VA residents near the Parkfairfax and Beverly Hills areas as well as the areas that surround them? Please reach out to us using the comment feature of this blog if you have any suggestions at all!

Meanwhile, we are meeting in Parkfairfax at 3pm on Saturday to begin fliering this large, and most likely growing, area where Leo is moving.

Weekend Fliering For Leo

As we anxiously await the tracking of Leo's movements, which should begin at 4:30 this afternoon when Sam of Pure Gold Pet Trackers brings Salsa out to the escape point, we are making plans for fliering on Saturday. We expect to know more about just where we will flier early this evening, but let's meet knowing that fliering is needed!

There is really zero parking within up to a mile of the escape point (less than that much parking, oftentimes -- trust me, I lived there for five years) so we will meet at Charles Barrett Elementary School at 2:45 for a 3pm head-out time. Hopefully the heat of the day will be mostly behind us, and we can get through it without passing out from heat exhaustion! Details are below:

Date & Meeting Time: Saturday, June 13th @ 2:45pm

Meeting Location: Charles Barrett Elementary School, 1115 Martha Custis Drive, Alexandria VA 22302

Telephone (for questions or if you can only flier at a different time): 804-337-9715

Supplies: If you have your own supply of fliers (downloadable from the blog), tape, staple guns, page protectors are large ziploc bags for weatherizing, please bring them!

Don't forget: sunscreen, a hat or visor for protection from the sun, drinking water, good walking shoes

What am I forgetting?? Thanks in advance for helping!

Thursday, June 11th

We are excited that Sam & Salsa, with Pure Gold Pet Trackers, will be out at 4:30pm on Friday (June 12th) to run a track on Leo from his escape point, and we thank Atlantic Region Central Border Collie Rescue for the funding for the track. (This is the rescue organization through which Leo is being fostered, or will be once he's rounded up and brought back to safety.) This is the best news we've gotten all week since there have been no reports of Leo being spotted. The bedding that Leo had spent some hours on in the short time he had been fostered before he bolted has been set aside in plastic since Monday night, so it's ready for Salsa to take the scent and figure out where Leo has been. Apparently the rains shouldn't prevent Salsa from trailing his scent.

We will post the results of the track with Sam & Salsa as soon as we get them -- sometime Friday in the early evening. If this track of Leo's travels shows us that Leo has migrated out of the Parkfairfax community, we will need to get fliers up in the new area immediately . . . well, we need more fliering immediately anyway!!! We will have volunteers out after the workday on Friday, but we need more fliering help. Can you participate?

The Lost Leo map will be updated Friday with the fliering that was done today, Thursday.

Update End of Weds Jun 10th

The majority of Park Fairfax was fliered this evening -- thanks to all for helping! This is the community in which Leo was lost. We spoke to many folks that were out & about, and it's clearly a dog friendly area.

Leo's rescue group has given the nod to get the lost pet tracker out, so we are reaching out to Sam of Pure Gold Pet Trackers to come out and run a track as soon as possible. This should give us an idea of where Leo has been traveling. It would be incredible luck to have the track lead us to Leo . . . but then that did happen in another case just a few days ago. Fingers crossed that we get that lucky!

More fliering is planned for Thursday evening, and we need more help than we already have. Can you come out and join the fun, for a good cause???

Also, note that there are two new fliering option -- business card size notices, and 4-to-a-page notices. The 4-ups are good for placing on car windshields in parking lots to spread the word about Leo being lost. Lost Leo business cards should always be carried when fliering as they are good to hand to peole you talk to.

Info for Fliering Tonight (Weds 6/10)

If you can flier Park Fairfax this evening, we are meeting at 6:30 at Leo's house on Martha Custis Dr For those not able to meet at 6:30 to begin fliering, supplies (fliers, sheet protectors and tape) will be ready for pickup by 6:30

The priority for this evening will be to cover as many street corners and bus stops (and use your judgement to find more places) as possible in the area bordered by Martha Custis Drive / Gunston Road, and then moving east and south as man hours permit.

The next priority would be crossing Quaker Lane, to the west of Park Fairfax, although we really hope Leo has not crossed Quaker Lane. He has some fear of roads with that much traffic, hence that priority is a notch below Park Fairfax (the Martha Custis/Gunston beltway, so to speak).

When you return from this evening's fliering, if you can post to the Comments section on this blog, the fliering map will be updated later tonight. There will be at least one person fliering during the day on Thursday so she needs to be able to see where the fliering priority is.

Thanks to all for helping to spread the word about Leo!

PS I had to update the flier AGAIN - I had left out the word Reward on the prior versions. Sorry!

A New Flier for Leo

We have a new flier for Leo -- with a new photo. If you will be fliering and you have already downloaded and produced some fliers with the old photo, no problem. The older version is still good. But now, please do use the version that you can now update from the blog for printing.

Thanks!

We need help flyering

We'd love to get flyers up in the area where Leo is lost--but need your help. If you can help hang flyers to generate sighting calls, please leave a comment and let us know. You can download the flyer from the link at the right of the blog, and then put the flyer in plastic page protectors or zip lock bags so that they withstand the rain.

Let us know if you can flyer and we'll send you an area to tackle.

Thanks so much!

Leo is Lost!

Leo is a foster dog with border collie rescue. He had been placed in a foster home in Alexandria VA for about 12 hours when he took off running following a neighborhood stroll, before the door could be closed behind him. This occurred around midnight as Saturday, June 6th turned into Sunday the 7th. We need all the help we can get to find Leo and bring him to safety!

The escape occurred in the Park Fairfax area of Alexandria, which is bordered by N Quaker Ln on one side and West Glebe Rd on another. Both roads border the city of Alexandria and the county of Arlington. For Leo's safety, we must keep him away from those highly traveled roads!

Leo, a red & white border collie or mix, is fearful of humans but is not aggressive. He has white feet, a white stripe down his nose, and white on the tip of his tail. He is approximately 45 lbs and has green eyes.

He was wearing a collar with a tag from border collie rescue in Richmond.

There is MUCH to do in order to locate and recover him -- we just need the volunteers to help. Do you love border collies, or dogs in need? Whether you are close to the Alexandria/Arlington and can help saturate the Park Fairfax area with fliers right away, or are not close but can perform other tasks towards the goal of finding Leo, we are looking to hear from you!

For now, please respond to the blog by commenting, and we will have more contact information, a flier to download, a sighting map, Leo's Petfinder page and other information up as quickly as possible. Please spread the word!