Sparky’s gone; East Hills comes to the rescue

Max Zahn
Stacey Siegel, an East Hills trustee who spearheaded the village’s new pet alert system.

In response to two September incidents in which dogs went missing in East Hills, the village announced on Saturday a new program to help residents find lost pets.

“For most families pets make up such an important part,” said Stacey Siegel, an East Hills trustee. “When they go missing, the possibilities could be devastating.”

One of the dogs lost in September was found; the other was not, Siegel said.

The pet alert program uses email and social media to contact as many people as quickly as possible in order to locate a lost animal.

“Hopefully we won’t have to use it,” East Hills Mayor Michael Koblenz said.

The first step in the program involves a “Missing Pet Questionnaire,” which owners fill out as soon as they discover that their pet is lost, Koblenz said.

That information is immediately sent to Siegel, the pet alert administrator, who follows up with the pet owners to gather additional information, Koblenz said.

A first round of emails about the pet and its possible whereabouts is then delivered to an internal village list that includes the mayor and the board as well as department heads and assistants.

If the pet is not found within an hour, the village sends a second round of emails to East Hills residents and neighboring villages as well as local veterinarians and animal shelters, among others, Koblenz said.

A post will also go up on East Hills-affiliated Facebook pages and other pages like “Roslyn Moms and Dads” and “Long Island Lost & Found Pets.”

“Social media is a great way to reach many people in a short period of time,” Siegel said.

Additionally, the village will print fliers at cost to the pet owners, who can offer an award to be determined and paid for by the owners.

“We would just charge pet owners the cost it takes to print up” the fliers, Koblenz said. There would be no additional fee.

Once the pet is found, the program would help reunite the pet with its owners and update the community via Facebook and email.

“This is something that I personally take very seriously because it has happened to me,” Siegel said. “My dog got out because a worker came into my yard and forgot to close the gate.”

She advised pet owners to keep the gates to their backyards closed and to consider attaching microchips to their pets.

“This program is another example of the village trying to help our residents in any way that we can,” she said.

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