Since the weather is warming up and more pets are spending extra time outside—and since I just recently found a lost dog roaming my neighborhood streets—I figured that it might be good to discuss what to do if you lose a pet.
A lot of this will be about preparation. Of course, nobody plans on losing their beloved pet, but if you’ve taken a couple easy steps to prepare, finding your lost pet can be much easier.
For those of you who’ve found an animal, information directed towards you will be in italics.
Tags
The first thing I would suggest is making it as easy as possible for a finder to get a hold of you if they have your dog. This means having a collar with some identifying tags on it. And those tags should have current information on them, at least the dog’s name and a reliable phone number!
Aside from that, a rabies tag can be traced back to you, but that generally requires a call to the vet who administered it—which can cause some delays if someone finds your pet outside of their business hours.
Another option, as far as tags go, is to have a current license for whatever county you live in. In many counties licenses can replace rabies tags, since you need to show a current rabies vaccination to get the license, so if you don’t like a lot of tags on your dog, go for the name tag and the license.
Having a license tag will also save you from possibly getting a ticket for not having your dog licensed, if animal control picks them up—plus, it is technically a legal requirement to display the license on your dog. License tag numbers are also usually searchable online, so a Good Samaritan can look you up and get your number on their own, without having to involve any other parties. And as an added bonus, animal control will generally look up a license tag and contact you directly to return your pet before taking them to the shelter, which can save you a good chunk of time and money.
For Finders: To look up a license, go to the website of whatever county shelter or agency issues licenses for your area. Find their “licensing” page and look for a “license tag search/lookup” option. Type in the license number and it should return some basic information about the animal, including some owner phone numbers.
There are also some options for tags that can be tracked with your phone.
Non-Tag Options
If you can’t stand having tags on your pet for some reason, you can get collars that can be custom embroidered with the pet’s name and your phone number. And if that’s too fancy, just use a sharpie to write your info on the collar.
For Finders: sometimes pet owners may write their pet’s info on the inside of a collar, so if it’s safe to do so, remove the collar and check inside.
For those pets that wear bandanas or some similar type of accessory, write their information somewhere relatively easy to find on whatever it is that they’re wearing.
Microchips
For those pets who absolutely refuse to wear any sort of collar, get a microchip! Microchips are especially helpful for reuniting lost cats with their people, but they’re just as handy with dogs too.
Even if your pet wears a collar and tags, a microchip is a good backup plan, in case your pet loses their collar when they’re out and about.
By now, we’ve all probably heard stories of lost pets reunited with their families after years of being gone. Most of those reunions happen thanks to a microchip! Again though, microchips are only as good as the information attached to them, so make sure that you update your phone number, email, physical address, etc. any time that anything changes.
For Finders: Any vet clinic or shelter in your area should be able to scan an animal for a microchip. If you find a lost animal outside of business hours, take them to a 24 hr. emergency vet and ask them to scan the animal for you.
Microchip companies generally don’t release owner information to Good Samaritans, so be prepared to give your phone number to whoever scans the chip. Assuming that there is a chip, that person will then call the chip company, the company will let them know whose info is attached to the chip, and then either the scanner-person or company rep. will call the owner listed on the chip. Hopefully the phone number is valid and the person calling can then connect you with the owner.
From there it’s pretty much up to you and the owner to decide how to get their lost pet back to them. You can wait for them at the vet clinic or meet them in another public area that’s convenient for both parties, assuming it’s safe to do so.
What If The Pet Has No Tags and No Chip?
If your pet doesn’t have any of the options mentioned above, it’s time to start actively looking around.
If your pet was recently lost, drive or walk around the area to look for them and be sure to ask anyone you pass by if they’ve seen your pet. Since animals don’t always stick to sidewalks and paths, and can move and change directions very quickly, you shouldn’t rely solely on this method.
To help get more eyes on the lookout for your missing pet, post online. Nextdoor, Craigslist, and Facebook are three of the bigger sites that you can use to post and search. Finders will often use these same sites to post found pets that they don’t want to take to the shelter yet. Certain companies will also make and post digital lost posters for you.
If the digital route hasn’t turned anything up, the next step is to check with your local animal shelter. If your pet has no ID on them, animal control officers and Good Samaritans who can’t temporarily house your lost pet will take them to the shelter. Most shelters will have a picture of your pet up within about 24 hrs. of their arrival, but you should always stop by in person to look for them whenever possible.
For Finders: If you find an animal outside of business hours and are not able to house them overnight, most every animal shelter should have some night drop kennels. These kennels should have some water to last the animal overnight, a form to leave some info about where you found them, and will usually lock after you’ve set the animal up so that they’ll be safe and secure overnight until someone arrives the next morning.
Now, if the shelter doesn’t have your lost pet, it’s time to put up some physical fliers around the area where your pet went missing. The idea of all of this is to get as many people aware of your missing animal as possible and to make it as easy as possible to get a hold of you.
If your lost pet is anxious or has a high chase drive, you’ll want to expand your search area. Dogs can cover a lot of ground if they’re running after or away from something, so be sure to check neighboring communities both digitally and physically.
Certain housing communities will have their own lost and found listings, so check with any larger, more organized communities whenever possible to see if this is an option.
Don’t give up hope too quickly; sometimes it takes finders a couple of days to figure out how to get a hold of you if they’re not familiar with the process. So just keep repeating all the pertinent steps listed about a couple of times a day and keep your eyes peeled for postings from the community.
For Finders: If you happen to see a lost pet who looks scared, it’s usually best not to chase after them, as it can cause them to run farther from home and possibly into dangerous situations, like busy roads. Take note of where you are, what time it is, and which general direction the animal is heading, and contact animal control (or the owners, if you’ve seen their posters around).
Animal control usually has a direct number that you can call, but sometimes they’re hard to get a hold of. If you need to get an ACO on the line ASAP, you can try calling your local police department’s NON EMERGENCY number and ask the operator to put you through to animal control. They usually have better luck reaching someone. If it’s not urgent, like you have the pet with you and can take it home for a while, just leave a message for them.
