Searching for a lost dog

If you have LOST your pet or believe that your pet has been STOLEN please read this article.

This article contains tips and suggestions for finding a lost Pet.

Don't ever give up! Your pet is lost, your pet is out there somewhere and it will be up to you to find him.

________________________________________

1. Make sure you have good clear photographs of your pet. Having these pictures on hand if your pet does go missing will be very helpful when asking people if they have seen your pet or when posting a "Lost Pet Poster"

2. You have a greater chance of having your pet returned to you if it is micro-chipped. Please make sure that all your pets are micro-chipped. Tags are great but they can become lost or they can be removed from your pet.

3. Make it a practice to routinely check your yard to find areas that your pet maybe able to escape from. If any areas are found, fix them immediately

.

4. Never leave your pet tied unattended in front of a store. Never leave your pet unattended in a car.

Some tips to help you find your lost pet.

1. Go to your neighbours and ask them if they have seen your pet. Leave your phone number with them and ask them to call you no matter what time it is if they spot your pet. If you have a current picture of your pet printed off, take it with you and leave a copy with your neighbours as well.

2. Contact all pounds and shelters within a 2 hour driving range from where your pet went missing. Let them know that you have lost your pet and that you would like to file a lost pet report. Pets especially dogs can travel long distances. Also someone who was trying to help your pet may have picked him up in one place and driven somewhere else to turn him in. 

Fax or email all these pounds and shelters a picture of your pet. Your pet may not be picked up the first day that he is lost, it may take a few days, but check back with the pounds and shelters everyday. Also make sure that the pounds and shelters have a picture of  your pet if possible. Visit pounds and shelters personally to look for your pet. Your description may vary drastically from the shelter/pound description. Also remember, even if your pet had a collar and tags when it disappeared, it may not have that collar on anymore.

3. IMPORTANT . Find the number of your local roads department. You most likely will have to contact several roads departments, Municipal, Regional and Provincial road crews. Call around and ask which agencies do the pick ups of dead animals from the roadside and city streets. This is a very sad but necessary part in finding your lost pet. Otherwise, you may never know what happened to your pet. Call them everyday to find out if they have picked up any animals matching your pets description that may have been killed on the side of the road. Sometimes animals are picked up by the roads department but animal control is not notified. Some road crews will just bury the dead animal (dog or cat) at the side of the road where they are found and no real reports are ever filed.

If  your pet is wearing an id tag, you may be contacted but don't count on it. You must put forth the effort to find out for yourself.

Make a point to arrange a visit to their offices so that you can drop off a photo of your pet so that the roads crews can be on the look out for your pet or ask them if you can email them a picture of your lost pet. Ask them to please circulate the picture to anyone who maybe working on the roads crew. Let them know that you want to know if they find your dog on the road, dead or injured. Not knowing is the worst part. In my opinion it is better to know that your dog is dead than to wonder for the rest of your life what may have happened to it.

4. Print up lost flyers (see an example below, two types). The more people who know you have lost a pet, the better chance you have of getting your pet back. Offer a reward if you can, but DO NOT post how much the reward is. DO NOT PUT YOUR FULL NAME AND ADDRESS ON YOUR FLYER. It is very important to always withhold several identifying marks and characteristics of  your lost pet. You many need to use these later to verify that a person has actually found your pet and is not trying to scam you. Leave your flyer with anyone you see, and post it on anything that is available to you. You can make these yourself or take them to an office supply store and have them printed off. Get at least 250 flyers to start with, and post them where ever you can. Keep these flyers in your car and give them to anyone who will take one.

Post them at:

Veterinary Offices.  If your pet has been injured he could end up at a local vets    office.  Vets may limit treatment until a legal owner is found, so don't delay. Make sure all vets in your area have all your information...

    Animal Shelters

    Bars and Taverns

    Day Care Centers

    Fire Departments

    Gas Stations

    Grocery Stores

    Grooming shops

    Laundromats

    Pet Stores

    Police Departments

    Rest Stops

    Video Stores

Give them to:

Schools.. ask the principal of any area schools if you can give a flyer to each teacher to show the class. Kids always know when there is a new pet in the neighbourhood.

    Delivery People and agencies

    Gas and Oil Delivery

    Postal Employees

    Garbage collectors.

5. Place a "lost pet" ad in your local newspapers.

6.Check "Found" ads in your local newspapers.

7. Talk to all the kids in your neighbourhood. Kids always know when there is a new pet in the neighbourhood.

8. Don't give up. Your pet many wander for several days or can be taken in by someone who is not looking for you in the right places. Don't ever give up! Your pet is lost, it is out there somewhere and it will be up to you to find him.

9. If a caller claiming to have found your pet tells you to meet him at a strange or dangerous location, or to send him money in order to get your pet back, or should you suspect that the caller is a con artist, agree to do whatever he asks, but call the police. Sadly this has happened. Please read Pet Scams

10. Do not list the amount of the reward.

SAMPLE LOST PET POSTER.