I lost my lab its almost 3 days since he was gone please help

[liezllyrhinz@yahoo.com]

Hello can someone help me ease this pain...I have lost my dog he was more than 5 years old my brother has forgotten to lock the gate and unfortunately Storm went outside and never return home until now. I got rumors that he was hit by a car and he took his last breath without me on his side.. someone took his dead body and I'm still searching for him in the entire neighborhood hoping he was still alive. I am also not ready to accept the thought of him having hit by that car. I am blaming myself for not giving attention when he bark during the time he got loose outside but I never entertain it because I thought he was just playing around with my other dogs. I also blame others for being so irresponsible and I feel guilty for all the times I got so busy with my work and never have enough time to play with him. I don't know how to move on, I feel like that if I get so busy with other stuff he might be upset because I just easily move on with my life without him. I miss him so much I still want to look for him even if his dead or alive I want him back and if his lifeless at least I can give him a formal burial. Should I stop looking for him and accept the thought of him being dead by now? or should i try my best to look everywhere and hope that maybe he is still alive. How can i face each day bearing this pain...how can i get rid of this mix feelings that I don't want to feel in the first place, the  feeling of guilt, denial and even angry at the same time is a great burden for me.. 

[KayC]

Have you called the local vets, emergency, animal shelter, humane society, put up fliers?  I hope and pray with you that he's still alive and someone is caring for him.  Please keep us posted.  I am so sorry, I can only imagine the pain you are feeling.

[ModHerc]

Yes, as KC said call your local animal shelter, humane society or animal control. It is possible he was picked up as a stray and lost his his collar.  There are even occurrences of chips failing or not reading properly, so even if he was chipped they may not have your information.

If he was hit by a car it is possible he was injured, but your Animal Control or Humane Society might have gotten him to a vet.  I don’t want to get your hopes up on that front, most animals struck by a car do not make it, but as an ex fieldservice technician, I did have the opportunity and joy of saving a few through my time with the Humane Society.

In the tragic event that he did not make, almost all animal service organizations keep logs of the deceased animals they recover, including a description of the animal and where the body was recovered.  I can tell you that transporting and handling a deaceased animal is not pleasant, and in my experience depending on your location it is highly unlikely that anyone who is not part of a professional animal service organization would have moved the body.  This holds less true the more rural you get.  Farmers tend to deal with problems themselves, so it is possible that a Good Samaritan did something, but unlikely.

Even if you have eye witnesses I would check it out if I were you.  An animal struck by a car can be a disturbing event, and in pressure situations even eye witness accounts may not be very accurate.  Hoping it works out for you,

Herc