Cat, dog, raccoon (eek) or other: What happens when you encounter a stray animal in the Champaign-Urbana area?
Here’s how to proceed when you need help with a lost or wounded animal around your neighborhood
Yikes! You’ve encountered an animal that is NOT yours in your neighborhood or maybe even your kids were the ones to point it out. How do you know what to do and who to call? Well, the answer isn’t exactly a simple one. However, there are a number of great places in Champaign-Urbana that exist to help you in this situation.
What do you do if you find a stray cat or dog?
Stray cats and dogs are the two most common animals you’ll encounter that need some care and following up. American Humane has some good advice on how to decide if this is even a situation you need to intervene. Reminder that it’s never a good idea to put yourself in harm’s way to capture an animal with aggressive behavior. But if you can capture the animal, you’ll want to leash the dog or put it in a yard or get the cat in a cat carrier or other sort of enclosure while you figure out your next steps.
Many animals are micro-chipped, so if this is clearly someone’s pet but not wearing a collar with tags, you can contact Champaign County Animal Control or the police to have it scanned in hopes of identifying the owner.
Now if it’s unclear if this is someone’s pet, or the animal is not micro-chipped, you may have some calls to make. The CU Humane Society may feel like a logical first step but it is important to note that it accepts surrendered pets — not newly found strays. Specifically, an animal must be in your care for a minimum of 10 days before you surrender it to our local Humane Society. Unless you’re willing to care for this dog or cat for awhile, this isn’t a perfect fit.
As mentioned above, calling Animal Control for more than just scanning an animal for a chip is a possibility. It is important to note that while Champaign and Urbana both are covered through local Animal Control, some of the surrounding towns are not covered. It depends on whether that village “opts in” to participate in county-wide animal control. There are local numbers listed for some of the towns that do not participate, so if you’re looking for the number for animal control in your town, you can read this list and save the number for your reference.
(Trust us. When you’re managing a newly found stray animal AND your kids AND your family’s safety, scrambling and digging for numbers isn’t the easiest thing to do.)
Finally, for cats specifically, there’s a local organization called CATsNAP that does great work. Volunteers foster cats while they find them new homes. Depending on the time of year and various circumstances, they may be maxed out and unable to accept the cat you find. Call them (no texts, please) to get involved if you would like to help their organization.
Have a neighborhood or town Facebook group you are a part of? It’s not a bad idea to post the animal on there if you’re having a hard time figuring out what to do with it next. That may be all it takes to find the owner.
What about a possum, raccoon, or other wild creature?
We’ve heard all kinds of reports from a runaway bison in Monticello to peacocks flying around outside Urbana and well, your best bet in all of these situations is going to be to call Animal Control promptly. Outside of normal operating hours? Go ahead and call the non-emergency number for your local police to get things squared away before anyone gets injured.
We’ve found an injured bunny, turtle or (insert other animal here)
The Wildlife Medical Clinic at the University of Illinois is a pretty stellar community resource. If you find an obviously injured animal and you just know you need to help it, you can (safely!) trap it and bring it straight to the Wildlife Clinic. Call them so they know it’s coming; when you arrive you’ll have to fill out paperwork that details exactly where you found the animal and your contact information.
If you don’t know if this is a situation in which you need to intervene, the Wildlife Clinic has some great info on its website, including a flow chart that helps you decide what to do, if anything. For example, you may be eager to scoop up and bring in wild baby animals whenever you see them, but according to the clinic you need to exercise some restraint. They say, “Unless the baby is visually ill or injured, or you saw the mother get killed, you can leave the baby where it is; we assure you that mom is properly taking care of her young!”
Please note: The Wildlife Medical Clinic is a different clinic than the Veterinary Teaching Hospital Emergency services. The Wildlife Clinic is going to be your go-to for those wild creatures that aren’t your pets or anyone else’s that live in the wild. Also please note, it is illegal to trap wild animals without a permit. This is why it is important you call the Wildlife Medical Clinic when you’ve taken possession of an animal to let them know you have trapped an animal you are bringing to them, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.
Final Food for Thought
When you are caring for your children and wild animals are involved, safety should be of the utmost concern. Once you as the parent have determined this is a safe enough situation in which you can intervene, caring for animals that are away from home or in need of medical help can be a very tangible way to demonstrate empathy and compassion to those in need. We simply encourage you to proceed cautiously with safety measures in mind and appreciate the efforts of the many in our community that care for the animals who live among us.
Phone Numbers for Reference
Champaign County Humane Society – (217) 344-7297
Animal Control, Champaign and Urbana – (217) 333-8911
Animal Control, surrounding communities – reference this list here
Wildlife Medical Clinic at Illinois – (217) 244-1195
CATsNAP Cat Rescue – (217) 689-0770, phone calls only