Bree Delvaux’s cat Vizio vanished in January 2018. She heard nothing for four years. Then, on New Year’s Eve 2021, a picture of Vizio appeared on Facebook.
Delvaux is a member of the Facebook group Bloomington Indiana Lost and Found Pets. Since 2014, members from around the city have used the network to help reunite animals and their owners. The group has over 22,000 members, slightly more than a quarter of the size of Bloomington.
When Vizio appeared in her feed, Delvaux could hardly believe it was the cat she had been missing for four years.
“I was like, there's no way; there's no way that's my cat. But I knew it from the moment that I saw the picture,” Delvaux said. Thanks to a post from a stranger, she and Vizio were reunited.
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Many pet owners have experiences like Delvaux’s. The group is filled with comments and appreciation posts from people reunited with cats and dogs after days, weeks or even years of searching.
Admin Emily Herr is a certified dog trainer and outreach coordinator for the Bloomington Animal Shelter. For as long as she’s been involved, the shelter has used Bloomington Indiana Lost and Found Pets as an unofficial extension of their services.
“There's anywhere between like eight, 15 posts a day,” Herr said. “A lot of those animals are reunited, or they come to the shelter and are eventually reunited.”
Herr scans the page daily for newly found animals. With her job at the shelter, she’s in a unique position to quickly identify and return lost pets.
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The group is a powerful resource, but Herr said it can be challenging to monitor such a large online community. She’s one of seven moderators but keeping the page civil is still time-consuming.
“I would say most of the time, people are cordial with each other,” Herr said. “With animal welfare, there are a lot of feelings about certain things. So sometimes people's passion about animals might be portrayed as a little bit off-putting.”
Nevertheless, she believes that vocal engagement is key to supporting the group’s mission.
“It's a cohesive group that we have, and certainly the members of the community make it as successful as it is,” Herr said.
In case of a lost pet, you can also contact Bloomington Animal Care & Control, who will alert you if an animal appears at the shelter matching your description.
