Realizing your pet is missing is a very stressful and heartbreaking time. Taking the following steps can help ease your mind and bring your beloved pet home.
- Check with others that live in your home to find out when they last saw your pet.
- Check every nook and cranny inside and outside your home.
- Drive around neighborhood. If others in your household can drive, split up and scour the area. Ask friends, neighbors, and family to help! Call for your pet by name.
- Contact your local animal shelters, humane societies, veterinary clinics, animal control, animal related businesses, and neighbors to find out if any of them have seen your pet or heard from someone who may have found your pet. If not, leave your contact information as well as a description of your missing pet
- Post on local Facebook groups about your missing pet. Include: pet name, detailed physical description (size, sex, age, color, breed), where and when you last saw them, your contact information, and a picture of the pet
- Make fliers with detailed information including pet name, detailed physical description (size, sex, age, color, breed), where and when you last saw them, your contact information, and a picture of the pet. Post the fliers in your neighborhood, at nearby veterinary clinics and other animal related businesses, on mailboxes, and street light/sign poles. Periodically visit the locations of your fliers to make sure they are still intact or need to be replaced.
- Place and ad in your local newspaper, on Craig’s List, and any other websites that post lost pet listings. For example:
- DON’T GIVE UP!! Don’t lose hope. There is a good chance your lost pet is out there hiding or wandering. Someone has probably found them and getting the word out will help get them back to you!
- If you spot your pet, do not chase them, this may cause them to run (fear or playfulness).
- Leave food, water, pet bed, and shelter outside your home. It might attract your pet back!
- Once your pet has returned home safely and happily, make sure all of your pets always have identification tags, collars, or are microchipped. Be sure that a working phone number for you is on their identification and update your microchip information if you move or change phone numbers. This can seriously save their lives. It is 100% worth the investment!
