Lost & Found Dog
Prevent Your Pet From Being A Lost Pet
To prevent your pet from becoming lost, ensure they have proper identification, such as a collar with updated tags and a microchip, which acts as permanent ID. Licensing your pet is also important for quick reunification. Spaying or neutering reduces the likelihood of pets wandering. Teach your pet strong recall commands and when transporting your pet, ensure they are secured in vehicles to prevent escapes once you arrive at your destination. Maintain fences and screens and educate your family on preventing escapes. During changes in routine, like construction or vacations, take extra precautions, and always have a recent photo of your pet for emergencies.
Found a Lost Pet? Here’s What You Should Do
If you’ve found a lost pet, you might wonder about the best course of action. Here are some important steps to consider:
Contact Animal Control: Did you call animal control when you found the pet? They are equipped to handle lost animals and safely return them to their owners.
- What Did Animal Control Ask You to Do?
- Keep the Pet: If animal control asks you to keep the lost pet, this is not in accordance with the law. A certified animal control officer should never request that you hold onto a lost pet.
- Transport the Pet: Similarly, animal control should not ask you to transport the pet yourself. Transporting a lost pet can be risky for both you and the animal, as it involves safety concerns such as the potential for aggressive behavior or the risk of the pet escaping.
- Why Ensure the Lost Pet Goes to the Animal Shelters?
- Local Search Hub: Animal shelters are central locations where pet owners actively search for missing pets.
- Medical Care: Shelters can provide necessary medical care and checkups for pets that may have been on the road or exposed to the elements.
- Identification: Shelters can scan for microchips and check for other forms of identification to help reunite pets with their families.
- Safety: Shelters offer a safe environment for lost pets until they can be reunited with their owners or placed in a new home.
These steps ensure that lost pets receive the best care and have the highest chance of reuniting with their families. Your initial instinct to care for the pet is commendable, but involving animal control and shelters is crucial for the pet’s well-being and swift return to their loved ones. If you have any doubts about what animal control asks you to do, don’t hesitate to seek clarification or contact a local animal shelter directly for guidance.
Here Are Some Things You Can Do to Help Your Local Animal Shelter Make Space?
- Foster a Pet: If you have the capacity, consider fostering pets. This provides temporary care and frees up space in shelters for other animals in need. You might be saving 2 animals' lives by fostering 1.
- Contact Rescues: Contact local rescue organizations. They often have networks and resources to help find homes for pets or can provide additional support to shelters.
- Promote Animals on Social Media: Share posts on your social media channels about pets in need from local shelters and rescues. This increases visibility and helps find potential adopters.
Lost Dog
In the unfortunate event that your pet becomes lost, time is of the essence. Act swiftly and take immediate steps to reunite with your beloved companion. Avoid wasting precious days and start your search promptly – the sooner you initiate the process, the higher the chances of bringing your pet home to safety. Every moment matters in ensuring a swift and successful reunion with your furry friend.
Losing a beloved pet can be a scary and traumatic event. Every day most animal shelter receive phone calls about a lost or missing pet, as well as calls from members of the public who have found stray or missing animals.
If your dog is lost, call your local animal shelter and animal control.
After hours, please contact the shelter as soon as possible when it opens. Please be sure to include a description of the animal, the location from where your pet went missing or where you have found an animal that is not yours. Please include your name, address, and telephone number where you can be reached, and if possible, in your email, please attach a photo or two of the lost or found animal that we can share to help others in identifying and locating your lost or found animal.
Found Dog
When you see a dog wandering loose, don’t immediately rush over and grab the dog’s collar. Although it’s important to get the dog to safety, your safety is key as well. Not every dog is friendly, and a lost dog may be frightened, stressed, or injured.
Find out about:
- Approaching a Lost Dog
- Keeping a Lost Dog Safe
- Checking for Identification
- Alerting the Lost Dog’s Owner
Make a Flyer
Paw Boost Free Lost Pet Flyer
Print a high-quality missing flyer using our free template.
Canva Lost Pet Flyer
Print a high-quality missing pet flyer using their template. You must have this product to use it.
Where to Post
PawBoost
Your lost pet's alert will reach more local people with PawBoost than with any other service.
- Post to the lost & found pet Facebook page for your area
- Alert local members of the Rescue Squad™ by email
- Print a lost pet flyer
- Add your pet to our lost & found
- Boost your pet's alert to thousands of local people
Lost My Doggie
- Issue "Amber Alert" To Neighbors
- Print Lost & Found Flyers
- Post To Facebook Lost Pet Pages
- List Your Pet In Our Lost & Found
- Reach 1000's Of People Instantly
Social Media
Post on all local social media platforms (Facebook, X, Neighborhood, TikTok, Reddit, etc.) The more platforms and places you post the better chance you have of spreading the word and finding you lost pet. All communities and usually counties have Lost and Found pages.