# "More dogs are lost during July 4th weekend than any other time of the year"--CITE? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-dogs-are-lost-during-july-4th-weekend-than-any-other-time-of-the-year-cite/759162 "2016-07-05T22:09:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-dogs-are-lost-during-july-4th-weekend-than-any-other-time-of-the-year-cite/759162/21 "2016-07-06T10:37:14Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > A bunch of lonely fat old ladies who man animal shelters aren’t necessarily professionals who “ought to know”. I’d listen to their observations before yours. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-dogs-are-lost-during-july-4th-weekend-than-any-other-time-of-the-year-cite/759162/22 "2016-07-06T13:37:17Z")
I don’t think anybody captures data like this _except_ shelters and rescues. It’s not like everyone fills out a National Institute of Standards and Technology questionnaire on what their dog did over the weekend every Monday morning. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-dogs-are-lost-during-july-4th-weekend-than-any-other-time-of-the-year-cite/759162/23 "2016-07-06T13:49:19Z")
But they’re _fat_! How can you trust them! ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-dogs-are-lost-during-july-4th-weekend-than-any-other-time-of-the-year-cite/759162/24 "2016-07-06T15:17:58Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > I appreciate these cites and your efforts. Sad to say the Albuquerque one was a dead link. > > The Dayton article only compares this July 4th weekend to the PREVIOUS one, not to other weekends, so I cant accept that. > > Finally, the Macon newscast says that there is EXPECTED to be a 3x increase in lost dogs. Id love to see a followup to see if that actually happened, or if this was just sensationalistic journalism. > > That blog link doesn’t work on my computer maybe because I have an iMac, I will effort it it seems maybe it might have some insight on this issue. > > I hope you don’t think Im picking on you. But in the OP I said Im looking for QUANTIFIABLE, statistical proof that this phenomena actually happens, So far, Ive only received one link for the ASPCA that this might be an urban legend . . . . I get it, you want a quote from a study using principles and empirical processes of discovery and demonstration considered characteristic of or necessary for scientific investigation, generally involving the observation of phenomena, the formulation of a hypothesis concerning the phenomena, experimentation to demonstrate the truth or falseness of the hypothesis, and a conclusion that validates or modifies the hypothesis. The scientific principle. So anecdotal reports from multiple organizations showing a large increase in strays doesn’t meet your criteria. Sure, got it. Reality is, most shelters and care organizations are running on a shoestring budget and a thin staff. So, no one is taking the time to validate and collect this data. Given the choice of do I spend the next 3 hours capturing data, or do I spend the next 3 hours trying to figure out where all these dogs came from, and what to do with them? Most animal care volunteers will take option 2. So, in this question, you may need to take the anecdotal as the best you are going to get. It is a real thing. Some, maybe even _many_, dogs react to loud noises with an irrational fear. You theorize that a scared dog will run TO home, not away from home. Anecdotally I can tell you that my Charlie, a rescued lab mix who was abused in a prior home, freaks out and runs without any rhyme or reason on where she is running. If she were outside my house or my fenced backyard, I have no doubt that a good thunderstorm would end with her being miles away from my house, with no idea how she got there, or where she is. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-dogs-are-lost-during-july-4th-weekend-than-any-other-time-of-the-year-cite/759162/25 "2016-07-06T15:33:38Z")
> [@russian\_heel](#): > > A bunch of lonely fat old ladies who man animal shelters aren’t necessarily professionals who “ought to know”. **Moderator Note** **russian heel** , professional jabs are not permitted in General Questions (even if you don’t think they are professionals). No warning issued, but avoid this kind of jerkish comment in the future. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-dogs-are-lost-during-july-4th-weekend-than-any-other-time-of-the-year-cite/759162/26 "2016-07-06T15:37:03Z")
Which brings to mind this famous video: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQU4mjE2pQA) ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-dogs-are-lost-during-july-4th-weekend-than-any-other-time-of-the-year-cite/759162/27 "2016-07-08T16:56:15Z")
Well, slightly off-topic, but this might shed some light on your desire for science: The American Veterinary Medical Association has said this of the most-frequently-cited study making claims about dog bites [bolding mine]: > [@](#): > > A CDC study on fatal dog bites lists the breeds involved in fatal attacks over 20 years (_Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998_). **It does not identify specific breeds** that are most likely to bite or kill, and **thus is not appropriate for policy-making decisions** related to the topic. Each year, 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs. These bites result in approximately 16 fatalities; about 0.0002 percent of the total number of people bitten. These relatively few fatalities offer the only available information about breeds involved in dog bites.\*\* There is currently no accurate way to identify the number of dogs of a particular breed\*\*, and consequently no measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill. Both AVMA and the CDC have issued statements disavowing that particular study, in part because they now recognize there is _no scientifically accurate way to estimate the numbers or proportion of any given dog breed_. So if national scientific and medical bodies are on record as saying not just that they don’t know, but that they consider it unlikely they can ever _scientifically_ determine, the total number of dogs and the proportions of each breed, your call for hard science on a much more complex issue seems…optimistic. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-dogs-are-lost-during-july-4th-weekend-than-any-other-time-of-the-year-cite/759162/28 "2016-07-08T20:52:31Z")
Anecdotal, but actual: At the newspaper where I worked for 25 years, we got very few classified ads for lost dogs after the July 4th holiday. What we did get were many, many ads right after that first break in the weather, when it had been 20 degrees for two months and one morning it was miraculously 60. Everybody said “poor little Fifi has been cooped up all winter; let’s give her some fresh air and sunshine!” Like clockwork, every year. Of course, this may take into account that people just found their dogs quicker in July. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-dogs-are-lost-during-july-4th-weekend-than-any-other-time-of-the-year-cite/759162/29 "2016-07-08T21:31:07Z")
Our dog hates thunder and fireworks. She is at little risk of getting lost though. She has an amazing sense of where home is - and at the first noise, she will drag whoever has her out either home or to wherever the car is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/more-dogs-are-lost-during-july-4th-weekend-than-any-other-time-of-the-year-cite/759162.md?page=1)