You're driving your car when you see a dog on the side of the road.

With a sinking feeling, you realize he's alone.

What should you do?

After all, what if your own pet were standing there?

• Don't cause a traffic accident.  You can't help an animal if you become injured in the process. Look in your rear-view mirror before braking, turn on your signal, pull your car completely off the road, turn off the ignition, set the parking brake, and put on the hazard lights. If you have emergency flares, prepare to use them.

• Consider the safety of the animal. A strange, frightened, and possibly sick or injured animal can behave unpredictably. A sudden move on your part, even opening your car door, can spook her and cause her to bolt—possibly right onto the highway. If the animal looks or acts threatening, or, if for any reason, you feel uneasy about the situation, stay in your car.If possible, restrain the animal. Create a barrier or use a carrier, leash, piece of cloth, or length of rope to keep the animal from leaving the area. Signal approaching vehicles to slow down if you cannot confine the animal, or divert traffic around him if he appears to be injured and is still on the roadway.

• Use caution when approaching the animal. Should you succeed in getting close enough to capture him, you stand a good chance of being scratched or bitten.When moving toward the animal, speak calmly to reassure her. Make sure she can see you at all times as you approach, and perhaps entice her to come to you by offering a strong-smelling food such as canned tuna or dried liver.

• If you are certain you can call someone who will come to get the animal very soon, try to lure an animal into your car with food, close the door, and wait for help. In most cases it isn't a good idea to attempt to drive somewhere with a strange dog unrestrained in your car; he may become frantic or aggressive once you're in the car with him. Cats may do the same, as well as lodge themselves under the car seat, and it can be dangerous trying to extracting them.

• If you're not able to safely restrain the animal, call the local animal control agency (in rural areas, call the police or sheriff). Do so whether or not the animal is injured, and whether or not she is wearing an identification tag. Leave your phone number with the dispatcher, and try to get an estimate of how long it may take someone to respond. If possible, stay on the scene to keep an eye on the dog or cat until help arrives. Make sure you report to authorities precisely where the animal is by using road names, mile markers or landmarks.

• If you are able to transport the animal, take her to the nearest animal shelter. If you plan to keep the animal in the event no owner is found, notify animal control that you have the animal or that you have taken her to a veterinary hospital for treatment. You can usually place a free "found" ad in your local newspaper. Keep any identification, such as collar or tags, should any question arise later.

• If you decide to try to find the owner yourself, be sure to contact your local animal shelter or animal control office first. This will give you an opportunity to let the appropriate agency know that you have the animal and to provide a description to them, in case the owner contacts them. Also, have the animal scanned for a microchip at your local veterinarian or shelter; this quick ID check could help you find the owner right away.

• Before bringing the animal home, make sure you can keep your resident animals separate; the found animal could be sick, fearful, or aggressive with other animals. Once you have him safely at your home, take pictures and create a “found pet” flyer to post around the area in which the animal was found. You can also post notices at veterinary hospitals and on web sites such as petfinder.com.If you’ve tried to find the owner without success, but are unable to keep the animal long-term, you can try to re-home the animal yourself.

• If you know in your heart that you're a rescuer, equip yourself to do the job?            Here are some things to have in your car at all times:

Phone numbers of local animal control, a shelter or police

24-hour emergency veterinary clinic information

Cat carrier or cardboard box

Collars and strong leashes for dogs

Heavy blanket; water bowls and water

Strong-smelling foods, such as canned tuna or dried liver

An animal first-aid kit.

** The Humane Society of the United States

Final word ...  Although we do our best to keep our pets safe and secure at home. Unfortunately, pets can still manage to break loose from the safety of their home or yard. Having a pet who runs away is a horrible feeling.  Let's do all we can to get these lost babies home to thier families without judgement.  It can happen to the best of us.

... Lia Herlihy