The Muchmore’s two year old lab Jake recently escaped from their back yard. “His collar was off, so we were extremely worried about him,” said owner Caroline Muchmore. “The back gate must have been open, and he went out the back. We checked the park and the block where he has been found before but we couldn’t find him. We had to get the word out.” The Muchmores used social media to get the word out. “Joe and I posted on our Facebook pages, and then all of the community Facebook pages. Traffic has become much busier in Stapleton, so we were very worried about him getting hit by a car. We had planned on splitting up and driving around, but before we left I had one more place to post; Next Door. Caroline quickly posted a picture and a description of Jake as well as their neighborhood so people could be on the lookout. The response from neighbors was overwhelming. “I’m not sure if anyone actually went out to try to find Jake,” said Joe. “But, online, people seemed really concerned about our situation.” The Muchmores received dozens of comments on the Next Door post regarding Jake. “None of them were helpful in the sense they gave us specific information about where Jake was at,” said Caroline. “But, there were so many three to four word responses saying things like, ‘so sorry’ or ‘I’m really sorry,’ and even, ‘hope you find him!’ I could tell it was really heartfelt. Much like when people write ‘happy birthday,’ on my Facebook wall on my birthday. It was really great to see the outreach from the community.” The Muchmores eventually found Jake about five blocks from their house in someone’s front yard. “We never did get any info about his whereabouts from all of our social media posting,” said Caroline. “But, we do believe had we not had so many ‘I’m sorries’ from caring neighbors on social media, in particular Next Door, we never would have found our beloved Jake.” A strong community with a strong social media presence can accomplish anything.