LIFESTYLE AUTHOR
Aja Webber
BRINGING OUR FURRY FRIENDS HOME n Meet the nonprofit that has been reuniting lost pets to their families since 2012.
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or many, losing a pet is equivalent to losing a family member. There are enough stressors in everyday life, but losing a pet should not be one of them. That is why Austin Lost & Found Pets (ALFP) is dedicated to do everything in their power to help. ALFP is a nonprofit organization that connects lost pets with their owners. From searching the streets to making flyers to working with foster families, ALFP does it all. Rachel Bullion has been an ALFP administrator for about six years and is dedicated reunite pets with their families. Bullion joined the organization in 2016 when her indoor cat was lost for almost a week. With the help of the ALFP team, she was able to make up for lost time with her cat and decided she wanted to be a part of the
MARCH 2022
mission to bring other pets home. “It’s the best feeling in the world when someone calls you crying because you’ve just sent them a picture of their pet that we found,” Bullion says. “All the stress and anxiety they’ve been feeling is instantly turned to gratitude and relief.” ALFP was started in 2012 by Stephanie Martens whose dog was an escape artist. After countless times losing and finding her dog, she decided to start ALFP. The organization is purely volunteer-based, with nine administrators and three moderators. However, with that many people, it would be almost impossible to run the organization — this is where the Facebook group comes into play. Bullion says when she first started working with ALFP, there
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were only about 5,000 members in the Facebook group, but now there are over 50,000. With the help of the Facebook group, Craigslist and Nextdoor, ALFP has been able to help thousands of families reunite. ALFP recommends six things to do on your own to begin searching for a lost pet:
Put dirty laundry 1 outside of your house. The scent might attract
your pet, as lost pets have often been found lying on the pile of laundry the next morning. Do not put food or litter out, as this can attract predators that may scare your pet away.
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Check all local shelters. ALFP
emphasizes the importance of not only looking at shelters nearest to you, as your pet might be farther
