Heather Taylor-Ream understands the deep bond that exists between people and their pets -- and the anguish that can ensue when a dog or cat goes missing.
After all, Taylor-Ream shares her Clintonville home with her mother, Susan Taylor, her daughter, Gabby -- and seven cats and a dog.
"It used to be more," Taylor-Ream said. "I just love animals."
"Both of my girls have always loved animals," Susan Taylor said, noting her younger daughter once befriended a mouse that had invaded the basement.
In addition to caring for a host of four-legged friends, Taylor-Ream displays her affection for pets and their people through Clintonville's Lost and Found Furry Friends, a Facebook page she launched in 2013.
The page now has 1,373 members, a figure Taylor-Ream said was boosted significantly in late March when ThisWeek Booster featured a photo of a former Clintonville woman's touching and tearful reunion with her lost dog.
"The main purpose of this group is to reunite pets with their families in Clintonville and Beechwold as well as surrounding areas," the Facebook page states. "If you find an animal or have lost one please post pictures and we will do our best to try to get that animal home where they belong, or if necessary find a new family for the lost pet.
"Animals are there for us when we need them, so let's do our part to help our furry friends."
Taylor-Ream, who is on disability due to health problems and mostly stays home, has said administering Lost and Found Furry Friends is a way she can contribute to her neighborhood.
"The fact she wants to reunite them is amazing," Taylor said. "I'm so proud of her for doing this."
"It was just a matter of, I would see or find strays, dogs and cats, and I thought, there must be a better way of getting it out there," Taylor-Ream said. "I wanted to serve my community and serve animals."
Although she knows Clintonville's Lost and Found Furry Friends has been responsible for several instances over the past five years of getting errant canines and felines back where they belong with their families, Taylor-Ream doesn't maintain statistics.
She also maintains that she doesn't deserve all that much credit when people and their pets are reunited through the Facebook connection.
"I just started it," Taylor-Ream said. "It's the community, all of our members, who make it successful."
How to find Fido
Clintonville's Lost and Found Furry Friends offers these tips for finding wayward pets:
* Post pictures of your dog or cat on Lost and Found Furry Friends, with the time, date and location they were lost and last seen.
Include contact information.
* Check out petfbi.com under the "found" tab. Do a search using your pet's criteria. Create a "lost" report there with as much information as possible, and check Pet FBI's Facebook page, too.
* Call local shelters and vet offices.
* Get to know your neighbor's pets and introduce yours. There is a good chance a neighbor might spot your pet before someone else.
Other resources include:
* Capital Area Humane Society, 614-777-7387, www.cahs-pets.org
* Franklin County Dog Shelter, 614-525-3647, www.franklincountydogs.com
* Pets Without Parents, 614-267-7297, www.petswithoutparents.net
* Cat Welfare Association, 614-268-6096, www.catwelfareassoc.org.
kparks@thisweeknews.com
@KevinParksTW1