Great News! Sparkle has been found!
I received an update on my voicemail this evening:
"Hi Suddie. This is Shasta. I am the one who had the Tibetan Terrier that was lost in Oakland. Sparkles. I just wanted to call you and let you know that we found her this morning around 10:30 AM. It was just a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL thing. I used a service called findtoto.com. It's a calling service. It called out to like 1200 people in the area where we lost Sparkle. A person got the phone call this morning and saw her on her way to work and turned around, opened her car door and called her name cause she knew it from the call. Sparkle came right to her and jumped in the car. I just wanted to let you know she is calm. She is safe. She's a little bit ragged. I also want to thank you so much, Suddie, for your help and for your concern and for posting her on your blog and for helping to get the word out. I really, really appreciate it. It's angles like you that help bring dogs home. Once again, thank you and have a wonderful day."I felt all warm inside after I received Shasta's message. I was so worried about Sparkle. I imagined her lost and scared with tumbleweeds blowing by and snakes and other horrible things lurking. Sometimes things do work out and when they do that makes me real happy.
I just had to look up this organization findtoto.com right away. It is such a great idea. Here's some of what I found.How It Works
Findtoto.com enters the exact address of where your pet was last seen into their mapping system, serving as the center point of the search area, which then pulls the data of phone numbers in a radius starting from the center point out. (Please See Map Below)
The phone numbers are then uploaded to their automated calling system where thousands of calls are made in minutes.
Their calling system is designed to call each number up to 4x to leave the Toto Alert message.
Toto Alert's can be left on answering machines, voicemails, and of course with a live recipient.
The recipient can hear the Toto Alert again by either calling back the number displayed on their Caller I.D OR if answered by a live person, this option is left at the end of the Toto Alert recording.
What Does The Toto Alert Say?
The Toto Alert message includes date lost/last seen, pet’s description, your best contact number, and to visit FindToto.org to view your pet and contact information. TotoAlert.org takes the recipients directly to their Lost Pets page.
Sample Toto Alert:
“ This is a lost pet alert from your neighbor Brian. He lost his dog Cody on July 5th. Cody is a brown and black German Shepherd. If you have seen him or can help, please call 859-555-5555. You can also view your neighbor’s lost pet and their contact info at TotoAlert.org."
