By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Amber Asmus works to reunite lost pets with their worried owners.
Since 2016, Asmus, of Bowling Green, has operated a Facebook page posting photos and descriptions of pets missing by their owners or found by others.
Close to 400 dogs, cats, ferrets and even birds that have escaped through open doors have been posted on the page – with many of them being returned home.
Asmus was motivated to start the site after she was notified by a friend that a bull mastiff was lost in the Pemberville area. Asmus was aiding in the search, when she came across the injured dog in the middle of Silverwood Road near Ohio 105.
“I rushed over there and sat in the middle of the road with this dog. He died in my arms,” she said.
“That first dog started it all – that helpless feeling I got,” Asmus said. “There’s really nothing out there to connect people with lost dogs. I knew there’s got to be a way to communicate this information to more people.”
So she created a Facebook page called Wood County Ohio and Surrounding Area Pets Lost and Found.
Within the past few weeks, the page has featured photos of a gray cat found on Ohio 25 north of Bowling Green; a Chihuahua-Pomeranian mix named Mylo that got loose; a black and tan dog found at Liberty Hi and Kramer roads; a white poodle-type dog found in Rossford; and a brown dog who keeps showing up on a porch at Route 105 and Luckey Road.
Asmus is trying to expand the viewers of the site.
“I feel the more eyes we have on the site, the sooner the pet will be found by an owner,” she said.
So far, the page has about 1,600 members. “I would like to see it hit 3,000 by the end of summer.”
Asmus, who is the manager of Auto Value in Bowling Green, has help administering the site by fellow animal lovers Pat Vernier and Christie Anderson.
In addition to posting the information online, Asmus and others will also drive around the area where a pet went missing.
“I had to switch to a four-door car so I could get animals in,” she said. “I’ll open my car door and let them jump in.”
On some rare occasions, Asmus has had to break bad news to pet owners after a deceased animal is found.
“I will try to find who the owner is. People are usually grateful,” she said.
Asmus has always been an “animal person.” She has the customary two dogs and one cat at home, but she also rescues wild animals such as squirrels, raccoons, rabbits and possums.
“I’ve got bunnies in my garden tub right now,” she said.
After someone dropped off a nest of baby squirrels they found in their attic, Asmus got the nickname “squirrel whisperer.”
She has learned to not wait too long before releasing the animals back into the wild. She kept one squirrel for eight months – “which was a mistake” – then had to take it to a wildlife sanctuary.
“I would keep everything if I could,” she said. But she realizes that wildlife belongs in the wild. However, until they are healthy enough, Asmus is happy to share her home with the critters.
And as for her boyfriend, he has become accustomed to the boxes or garden tub of furry babies. “He has to be good with it,” Asmus said with a smile.
