Scent Packets For Your Pet

This is a packet that you can prepare, and have ready in case your pet is ever lost, and you need to bring in a Pet Detective, or Missing Animal Responder. In the sense that you have created pre-made fliers, this is just another added precaution that most never think about. This scent packet is most important if you are in a multi-pet household. They are easy to create, and very easily kept for a long period of time in your freezer.

Instructions
Make sure your hands are clean, and free from other scents, including the soap you just washed your hands with.

You will need:
A pair of new, unused, latex or nitrile gloves.
Prepackaged, sterile gauze pads, I prefer the 5X5 size.
Clean unused, plastic freezer bags.

I prefer to cut some hair, from the pet directly, or if you have pets that need grooming, gather some locks from the groomer.
If you are using locks of hair, take a few gauze pads, and put them down in the freezer bag with the hair samples. This is so that the gauze pads will absorb the scent from the hair should a handler prefer to use the gauze.
You can also take your gauze pads and rub down the pet from head to toe for a few minutes. Put the gauze pad directly into the freezer bag. I personally, like to then put the freezer bag inside of an unused, clean, brown paper bag. (lunch size)
You will label the outside of the paper bag with the pet’s name, and the date that you collected the scent.

Swabbing Method - Lightly moisten a clean cotton swab with sterile water or saline solution available from a drug store. Carefully rub the sample area with the cotton swab, collecting as much material as possible. Multiple swabs can be collected, but only one swab should be handled at a time (two swabs may be used simultaneously if the sample is to be split). Allow the swabs to air dry, keeping them out of direct sunlight. Never use a hair dryer or oven to dry the swabs. Place them into individual paper envelopes, then seal and sign across the seals.

Blood - Wet
If the stain is large enough, sample the blood using a dry swab without contaminating it with leaf material or dirt, which can inhibit DNA analysis. Air dry the swab for a few minutes, then place it in a paper envelope and ship at room temperature.

Teeth or bone samples that are wet should be tightly wrapped to avoid leakage during shipping.

Hair
Pull about 50 hairs from the mane (horse), tail (horse or cattle), or neck guard hairs (elk and deer), being careful to obtain the hair roots. DO NOT CUT THE HAIRS. Place the samples in a paper envelope and seal, do not use a plastic baggie. If the animal has been dead longer than 24 hours, do not collect a hair sample.

Loose evidentiary hairs can be collected into paper evidence bags. Hair samples on non-porous surfaces can be lifted with conventional fingerprint tape. The lift should be placed sticky side down onto a piece of plain white paper, and packaged in a separate envelope.

Feces
Dried feces should be placed in a paper container, and sealed. Collect wet feces in a leak-proof container and freeze immediately, then ship frozen overnight.

Organ and Hide
Do not submit soft tissue collected over 72 hours post mortem, unless temperatures have been near freezing. Freeze fresh tissue in an airtight container and identify the source of the tissue (spleen, muscle or liver are good sources). Ship overnight with a cold pack. Note: The laboratory will not accept post mortem tissue from deer or elk in areas affected by CRW (Chronic Wasting Disease).