| 1. |
It is just as important to listen, as it is to call for your pet. When you are out looking for your pet, listen to signs that may lead you to him. For example, dogs barking at a fence can indicate that your pet is near and that is what they are barking at. |
| 2. |
Increase your search by 1 mile each day in ALL directions. Your pet may not stay in your neighborhood. Even if you think it is unlikely that your pet would cross a busy road, it is possible. Do not assume that he/she will not wonder farther each day. Also think about the possibility that someone driving by may have picked your pet up and has taken him/her to their home- possibly across town! |
| 3. |
Put familiar things outside. Leave your pet's full food bowl outside. Also leave his favorite blanket, or other enjoyable things. Be sure to leave your gate open. |
| 4. |
GO to your local County Animal Control/Shelter and look for your pet. Be sure to look at the "Found Board." If you border more than one county, you will need to go to each county agency. There are also many private animal shelters and humane societies. You will need to call each one to find out if you will need to go there in person, or if they are able to give you information over the phone. Many of these organizations also have "Found Boards." Ask all the agencies that you contact what their policies are concerning lost pets (i.e. how long they will be kept until either being put up for adoption or euthanized. Every organization is different and it is important for you to know so you know how often you must check back.)
NOTE: If you live in the Columbus area call (614) 471-7397 and ask to make a lost report.
|
| 5. |
If you have a purebred pet, contact your local breed rescue. Many times when a purebred pet is found, the local rescue for that breed is contacted. Your pet may end up being turned in to them, or they may know where he/she is. |
| 6. |
Create a "Lost report" / look at the "Found" reports at PetFBI's website: http://www.petfbi.org. PetFBI is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping reunite pets with their people through a database on the Internet. Many veterinarians, groomers, animal rescuers, and others, consistently direct people who have found pets to this organization's website. |
| 7. |
Call local Veterinarians and the Emergency Veterinary office(s) in your area. Many offices have lost and found files and/or bulletin boards where you can post your missing pet. |
| 8. |
Does your pet have a microchip? Be sure your information is current with the microchip company. Most animal control agencies/shelters scan for microchips when pets are first brought into their facility. Many veterinary offices scan pets that have been found for free. |
| 9. |
Put up "LOST" posters. These should be placed on street poles, in veterinary offices, in pet stores, and in grooming shops (your poster distribution should increase 1 mile each day). Make a list of the places where you distributed your posters, so it will be easy to go back and take them down once you find your pet. There are a few things to remember when putting up posters:
- Describe your pet's size, color, length of hair, approximate age and gender. Do this even if your pet is pure bred. Remember, whoever finds you pet may not recognize the breed or, for mixed breeds, the combination of breeds. They may guess at the breed(s) and their guess may not match the breed name(s) you posted.
- Make sure your sign is readable from a passing car. Make the words "LOST," kind of pet, the size, color, and your phone number very large. People should not have to pull their car over to read your sign, keep in mind that most will not.
- Use poster board rather than regular paper. If you use paper, one rain will make your signs unreadable.
- Use a silhouette of the pet/breed rather than an actual photograph. Photos do give the personal touch, but are very hard to see from the road. A silhouette is recognizable from a much greater distance. You can get silhouette clipart from the Internet. Google's Image Search: (http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&q=cat+silhouette) is one source, or many clipart packages have such pictures. If you use a photograph, be sure it is clear and copies well.
- Leave some information off the poster. This will help you verify someone actually has your pet. For example, if the pet was wearing a collar, don't put that information on the poster. When someone calls saying that they have your pet, you can ask if the pet was wearing a collar, what color it is, type, etc. Only a person that truly has your pet will know this information.
- Use one of our poster templates (Word document)
|
| 10. |
Put a classified ad in the newspaper. This is a very common place for people to look if they have found a pet. |
| 11. |
Send out an email. The Internet is a very powerful tool. Send an email to EVERYONE you know and ask them to forward it to EVERYONE they know. Remember: you want people to read it and forward it, so don't make it too long, but be sure to put enough information that it makes people care. If you can, put a picture of your pet in the email, but don't make it too big and save it as a jpg file so it doesn't take too long to download. |
| 12. |
Look at dogs for adoption through rescue organizations. Many times rescue groups get their pets off the streets. They try their best to find the pet's owners, but sometimes it is impossible. If they are unable to locate the owner, they have no choice but to put the pet up for adoption. |
| 13. |
Do not give up. Pets have been found months after they have been lost. The kind of people who would pick your pet up off the street want to return your pet to you, but will probably keep him/her in their house as to save your pet the anxiety of having to go to a shelter. After keeping your pet for some length of time (may be a month) they may realize that they will not be able to find you and then turn your pet into a shelter to be put up for adoption. If you gave up after a week or two, you may have missed your pet at the shelter! |
