Apollo, chihuaua/Italian greyhound

How Facebook Helped Find a Lost Dog
Kelly Clay, Contributor
2/01/2013

It was on a windy Wednesday morning that technology writer Ryan Matthew Pierson woke up to discover the front door to his apartment was blown open by a strong breeze. His wife had left for work, and a fault in their door frame made it difficult to latch. His dogs, Rocky and Apollo, took advantage of the open entryway and set out on adventure. Unfortunately, this adventure would last several days for one of his dogs.

His terrier mix, Rocky, was found almost right away by members of his apartment complex’s staff. He was kept in the office while Ryan rushed out on foot to find his chihuahua / Italian greyhound mix, Apollo.

“Apollo is curious by nature,” Pierson said. “He’s always exploring and meeting new people.”

On this day, Apollo was seen chasing a car through the security gates and onto the busy street adjoining the property. Pierson said he chased after Apollo on foot, but Apollo had a long head start. Finding him proved much more difficult than simply calling his name.

Pierson recalled, “He was lost. He has a tendency to keep going in one direction in hopes that eventually someone will catch up to him and find him. He’s never been particularly good about turning around and coming back the way he came.”

Ryan’s wife, Angela Pierson, continued the search by car while he started making calls and posting lost dog notices on Craigslist and Facebook. As it turns out, the post he made on Facebook would be the very lifeline they needed to find Apollo.

Within hours, over 1,000 people had shared Apollo’s photo on Facebook, and within 48 hours, that number grew to over 2,500 people. Pierson said that they were receiving calls almost every hour with possible sightings and from volunteers hoping to help them find Apollo and bring him home.

It was the second night when the Piersons received a phone call from an apartment manager working over four miles away from their home. Apollo had apparently wandered on to the property in search of both humans and food. They took him in and gave him a home while they searched for the owner. That’s when Apollo’s photo appeared in one of the manager’s Facebook news feed.

“She told me he was safe,” said Pierson. “She described his personality perfectly. He spent the day sitting on her lap quietly while she worked. That’s exactly what he does at home.”

After Pierson received photo confirmation, Apollo is now on his way back home. Apollo would likely not have been found without Pierson leveraging the power of Facebook, even though he only has a few hundred friends himself. Of course, this is not the first time Facebook has helped people find their lost love ones – or things.

Pierson’s story, however, reinforces just how far our own online social networks (no matter how small) can reach – especially when we need them most.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2013/02/01/how-facebook-helped-find-a-lost-dog/