Free Ride Home

About the Program

Category: Criminal Justice and Public Safety (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

The Chesterfield County Police Department's Animal Services Unit recognized a need to reunite lost dogs and cats with their owners as soon as possible. The creation of the "Free Ride Home" program brings together the Animal Services Unit and County citizens to ensure lost companion pets make their way home quickly and not to the local shelter. The program allows Animal Services Unit officers to provide a free ride home to any pet where officers can identify the owner. Officers who pick up a lost dog or cat with the appropriate identification information will attempt to contact the owner and transport the animal to its home, rather than the shelter. There is no fee to the owner for having his or her animal returned through the "Free Ride Home" program, whereas owners of dogs and cats that are admitted to the shelter must pay a fee. This program is an incentive for owners to ensure their pets have appropriate identification or a registered microchip. Additionally, there was a very minimal cost to starting the program with a result of some savings in the costs of normal shelter expenses.