Furbaby missing? Reuniting Fur Families is there to help

By Mar-Vic Cagurangan

When a notice for a missing dog or cat is posted on social media or sent out as flyers, responses come at once. People jump on board, share the post and stay alert. “Random strangers are helping the owners physically search as well,” says Twyla Aguon, who formed Reuniting Fur Families in 2016. “I joined every group I could.”

Reunions happen after a mass advertising, Aguon says. Last year, Reuniting Fur Families saw a 70 percent family-pet reunion success.

Aguon dedicates Reuniting Fur Families to Hazelnut, a 14-year-old pitbull who died of cancer in 2016. “It helped me deal with her passing,” says Aguon, who has spent 20 years rescuing animals in distress. She now owns six rescues.

“I put myself in the shoes of missing owners and how that would make me feel if it were my own. What would I do? These owners are left heartbroken, confused, emotional, not knowing what to do..."

The group’s creation was a run of serendipity. Aguon was bedridden for two years after becoming disabled and unemployable in 2015. “Thinking what could I do,” Aguon recalls. “I knew God was not done with me.”

She created Guam Jobs: People Helping People, an employment group that seek to help jobseekers and recruiters. “I then started noticing missing dog posts here and there,” she says.

Twyla Aguon and Hazelnut

That’s when she determined there was a special need for missing pets. “I put myself in the shoes of missing owners and how that would make me feel if it were my own. What would I do? These owners are left heartbroken, confused, emotional, not knowing what to do. That is when I created Reuniting Fur Families - Dedicated to Hazelnut.”

The group, which started with a handful of people, has since been growing. “There is a lot of team work that takes place. I added on an admin— Eve Shen. I couldn't have asked for a better admin /team mate,” Aguon says.

Once a missing dog or cat post pops up on Facebook, the group immediately contacts the owners. “(We) make loud flyers for them and for us to share on social media. We send them the list of other things they should be doing. We then send privately to people we know who live in or around that village said pet went missing,” Aguon says.

On occasion, the group helps owners pass out flyers around the area where pet went missing.

“We have printed flyers for people who are unable to, at no cost. We stay with the owners from beginning to end.”

The goal is to reunite the lost furbabies with their families. “We never give up on any missing pet. We will continue to share each one, even ones that are still missing from 2016, 2017, 2018. Aguon says. “At the end of the day, it is all about team work, advertising and communication. Starting with the owner, us, the public. It literally takes an island.”

Things to do when furbabies are missing

1. Call KStereo @ 477-5786 Paw Patrol. They will do an announcement of your missing pet.

2. Contact GAIN @ 653 4246

3. Go to your local mayor’s office and give them a flyer.

4. Search the area where your pet went missing. Go to your neighbors and leave your contact information with them.

5. Go further in your search. Check bus stops, grassy areas, trash areas, side roads, mom&pop stores. Your furbaby will be looking for shelter & food. Keep in mind, it doesn't take them long to get from one village to another. Search boonie areas, there have been cases where a missing furbaby had been stuck in the long grass and brush for a few days on someone else's private property.

6. Check the flea markets on the weekends in case someone is trying to profit from your missing pet.

7. Statistically speaking, the best times to search is dusk and dawn. Not saying do not search during other times! Bring food/treats with you.

8. Make flyers, post them wherever anyone will allow.

9. Plaster your missing ad all over social media. Do not depend strictly on pet groups. Post it everywhere!

10. Do Not give up! Do not only search one or two times.