Puppy Rescue and Soapbox

Soooo...
I have this problem.
When i am driving in my car and I see a dog running around with an owner no where to be found... I have to stop. I can't keep driving down the road and hope the puppy finds it's way home because my over active imagination tells me next time I drive down that road I will see splattered puppy on that road... and I am just definitely not okay with that on my conscience.
Which is why I have spent countless lunch hours chasing after dogs, making awkward phonecalls and returning dogs safely to their family. Miraculously, every time the dog's owner has been home. I have a 100% success rate! Yay.

Today's rescue was fairly uneventful. A fluffy white thing darted in front of my car on a residential street when I was on my way home for lunch. And then he turned around and came trotting over to my car to have a closer look... So I stopped the car, put it in park and open my door to get out... and the fluffy white thing invited himself into my car and hopped right up on my lap like i was his best friend and we do this on a daily basis.
Well, hello. Don't you know about stranger danger?
Anywho, checked the collar and SKITTLES' tag has a number, and I call and take SKITTLES about 4 houses down to his home. I am glad he is safe with his family.

This was nothing like the last time I did a lunchtime rescue...
I saw a red and white cavy running down the middle of a busy road... and so I pull over, hop out, and try to get her, before she gets hurt. She sees me coming for her... and Oh boy! It's a game! So I am chasing a dog I don't know down the middle of a busy street and cars are stopping and honking at me in frustration.
Ah, the glamorous world of pet rescue.
Anyway... she finally came wiggling over to me and I scooped her up and got the number off her collar, and called her 'mom' who was overjoyed that someone had returned their baby. She offered me money as a reward. I laughed and refused, and she was shocked. I just said-- You would do the same for me if you found my dog out, right? And she agreed she would.

Anyway... There is an important moral to this story and here it is:
Keep collars and tags with current information on your pets at all times. You don't know when or how your pet might slip out, and if there are no tags there is little chance of them finding their way safely home. On the occasion that I find a pet without tags... I have to call animal control. Best case scenario-- you are charged a fine to retrieve your pet from animal control. Worst-- your pet is injured or killed, or you just don't find it before animal control turns it over to a shelter.
I don't care if your pet is micro-chipped. I don't have a micro-chip scanner. I have to turn your dog over to animal control. I don't care if your pet is a diva and the collar matts her silky hair. Keep a collar and tags on her. PLEASE. It really is for their safety.

And also, if you have a pet that you love, or even if you don't--
Be the kind of person that will stop and make sure someone's pet is safely returned to their family before driving away. I mean, don't you hope someone would do it for you?