3. My Pet Is Lost (Help)

It is absolutely devastating when your pet is missing, they are family & we can be beside ourselves when it happens. Being prepared can help a lot & having a plan.

Plan ahead:

1. Have a current photo on your phone at least (printed one as well can be helpful).
2. Have your pet microchipped & have the # registered to your current address. Update if you have moved.
3. Sign up with a website like “Finding Rover” so your pets details are already listed & you can access it and send out a missing pet post quickly.
4. Keep a collar with a tag or an imprinted collar with your cell # on it. I don’t like clicking tags, one of my dogs has a tag the weaves thru his collar & the other has my cell number engraved on the clip of his collar.
5. Teach your dog a good recall & never punish a pet for coming back to you, even if it took a while for it to come. Reward the return, & next time should be faster.
6. GPS trackers can be purchased & attached to your pets collar, pets location can be tracked through your cell phone. Note there may be a fee to keep tracking active, check before you purchase.

Lost pet recovery ideas:

1. Contact the non-emergency # at the police department in your town & any within a 10 mile radius. Some police departments pick up animals after hour & on weekends if local animal control is closed.
2. Contact local Animal Controls, also ask them for suggestions of other people to call.
3. Call all the Vet offices within a 15 mile radius & tell them you lost your pet, fax or email the pets info if you can, so they can hang it up on their bulletin board/wall.
4. Contact local newspapers & run an ad. Not everyone goes online, so this could help, some people even read the paper online.
5. Ask the mailman or any delivery person you see in your area to look out for your pet.
6. Contact cable, electric & gas companies as well as your city hall & ask them to tell their employees who are out on the streets to watch for your pet. Fax or email them a photo to post in their break room.
7. Send out an email blast to friends in the area & ask them to forward it. I was in rescue for 20 yrs so I would forward it to my rescue contacts as well. Send photo & pet details in the email.
8. Send to friends with Facebook & ask them to post it & share it. Again include a photo & pet details.
9. Google lost pet ads & find places you can post the info about your lost pet online.
10. Put flyers up at grocery stores, local pet stores & restaurants, any business you can find that will post it. Go around your neighbor & post wherever you are allowed to. Pets can travel quickly, especially if scared, so go farther if pet not found quickly.
11. Some Animal Controls have websites where you can post lost pets.
12. Ask kids in the area out playing, kids that are outside may have seen the pet and some pets feel safer around kids & may go to a kid. Tell them not to chase the pet, predators chase and that might be what the animal is thinking & run farther & faster away.
13. Sometimes offering a reward may help.
14. If you live near a school you may want to contact the school, if your pet likes kids.
15. In Illinois where I live there is a website called Lost Dogs IL https://lostdogsillinois.org Believe they are active in many other states as well.