What to do if you've lost a pet.
• File a missing pet report with your local animal shelter(s). Please bring a picture of your pet to attach to your missing pet report
• We strongly recommend that you visit the shelter to personally view the animals in the kennels. Lost animals are held for a minimum of five days and many are held for up to ten days before they can be adopted, sent to a rescue or
ganization, or humanely euthanized.
• Search in your neighborhood regularly. Call or whistle, especially in the evenings when it is quiet.
• Consider leaving a personal item, such as a jacket or your pet's bed, outside to help your pet find the scent home.
• Alert your neighbors. Ask your neighbors to check garages and tools sheds.
• Post fliers throughout your neighborhood, at local veterinary hospitals, at businesses and on social media sites. It should include enough information for an honest person to contact you, but not enough detail that a scammer can claim to have your pet. Never pay reward money in advance, and be sure to meet anyone in a public place.
• Post a lost pet ad on Craigslist and an ad in your local newspaper.
• If your pet is microchipped, call the company to confirm that your contact information is up-to-date, and alert them that your pet is missing.
• Don't give up hope, and don't assume your pet has been stolen. Keep searching the animal shelters and checking ads. What to do if you find a lost animal:
Have the animal scanned for a microchip and complete a Found Report at local animal shelter(s). Any veterinarian’s office, Animal Control Officers, or any local animal shelter can scan for a microchip. People looking for their lost pet will be looking at the animal shelter, not your page or your home, to reclaim their pet. If you are unable to transport the animal or if the animal is sick or injured, call your local animal control agency. Most shelters will allow you to foster (house) the pet while also filing a Found Report by providing the description, the location where you found it, and your contact information. Think lost, not stray. By taking in this animal you are ethically responsible to do what you can to find the pet’s owners, a lost pet is not yours to re-home. No matter how the dog or cat behaves or what it looks like, chances are there is an owner who desperately wants his or her companion home. Lost dogs and cats may appear skittish and afraid. They may lose weight and appear disheveled depending upon how long they have been lost from their home and family. Many owners of missing pets search tirelessly to find their lost dog or cat.
• You may also bring lost animals your local shelter. Most people will search for their missing pet at animal shelters so it is important to contact your local shelter. We recommend placing posters in the neighborhood in which you found the lost pet, letting them know it has gone to the local shelter. Not everyone has access to see your Facebook posts.
• Post an ad in the local newspaper, stating the animal is with the local shelter. Visalia Times-Delta will run a "Found Pet" ad for three days free of charge. You may also call and renew the found pet ad after the three day period. Check your local newspaper for lost pet advertisements as well.
• Post a found pet ad on Craigslist, stating the lost pet is with the local shelter.
