Steps to Take to Locate Your Lost Pet

by Carol Donaldson, California

1. Make a thorough check of your home and yard. Some animals (especially cats) will not respond if ill or frightened. Check in spots that you don't think your pet will fit in such as pipes, boxes, washing machine, dryer, vehicle engine, behind walls. Often animals can fit in some areas you may consider inaccessible to them. When you call their name, stop and listen. Even if you expand your search you should periodically check around your home because if it is an older animal that has gotten trapped it may be exhausted and unable to respond at the first call.

2. Start searching the neighborhood. Ask everyone you see if they have seen your cat, dog, or snake. Give them a description. Give them a description of the animal and your phone number. As you are walking in your neighborhood, call out your pet's name. Expand your search outside your few blocks as dogs can travel distances rapidly.

3. Go to your local shelter and see if your pet is there. Leave a lost notice on their bulletin board. Make sure you visit your animal shelter daily. Extend your search to the neighboring counties as many times animals are transported into other areas.

4. Make up flyers with your pet's photo and description (breed, gender, coloring, scars, and approximate size). Make sure you have your phone number included on this flyer. Put this flyer up on bulletin boards in the local area at feed stores, grooming salons, veterinary hospitals, trainers, grocery stores, Laundromats, etc.

5. Place ads in your local papers. Many times ads for lost animals are free. If you can afford an ad, try to place a large one with your pet's picture. Renew ads.

6. Place ads with photos on the internet. Place them on craigslist.com, petfinder.com, petharbor.com and other lost and found websites in your area. Petharbor.com has a service that, for a fee, they will provide post cards to send to your neighborhood. On the Petfinder.com site you type in your zip code, and then it will take you to your location and show you all the pets available through pet rescue agencies and the local animal shelters. You never know, maybe you will see your pet's photo there. Keep reposting your ad, people are keeping an eye out for your animal. Sometimes the person who found your pet won't post it for several weeks.

7. Contact your breed's rescue groups and send them a flyer. Also, send flyers to all other rescue groups in your areas.

8. Probably one of the most important steps! Make sure you READ all ads – even if the description does not sound correct many times you will find that the description of the dog or cat they found does not match the actual animal. Many people get the breeds wrong, and sometimes the color wrong. So check out everything.

A Helpful Link: www.TheCenterForLostPets.com