Lost and Found

A spotted reaches out paw to shake hands with a person. — **Lost and Found**

We’re on a mission to help pets get home.

How can we help you?

Lost Pet Resources

We know how hard it is to be separated from your pet, but don’t lose hope! Most dogs are found within a mile of their home, and displaced, stressed cats often hide in silence for an average of 10 days to two weeks, depending on personality and whether they are indoor or indoor/outdoor. Follow these steps to increase the chances of finding your pet.

Step 1: Check our website and file a Lost Pet Report. Visit our Found Pets page often—it’s updated frequently. If you recognize your pet, call us at xxx-xxx-xxxx. Submit a Lost Pet Report online or call us for help with the report. If your pet is microchipped, also call your vet and microchip company. Report your pet lost and confirm your contact info.

Step 2: Look for your pet on local social media pages and post their photo. Some options include NextDoor, Craigslist, Petco Love Lost, PawBoost, and surrounding neighborhood Facebook groups and local “Lost & Found Pets of [CITY NAME]” Facebook pages. You can also post your lost pet to these pages; make sure to include a recent photo, description, and contact information where you can be reached.

Step 3: Share flyers and alert neighbors. Create a Lost Pet flyer and post it in the area or distribute it to doorsteps of homes. Don’t just think in terms of street travel—pets don’t!—think distance, or “as the crow flies,” and post flyers on all the major streets that transverse your neighborhood.

Step 4: Contact area shelters. Animals don’t know city limits, so file a lost report with other local shelters and visit their websites to check found pet listings.

+ Additional cat-specific tips

In survival mode, cats are less concerned with food and more concerned with staying undetected and hiding from noises—sometimes even their owner. Their personality determines their behavior under stress: a curious, friendly, and chill cat may be sighted early; whereas a careful cat who is nervous and wary may only emerge at night. Here are a few big-picture basics from the search guides:

Instead of the vague REWARD LOST CAT, offer a specific amount. “Reward for confirmed photo” gets proof of sighting so you’re not wasting time on the wrong cat. The photo should be the largest element on the flyer, ideally a side view in silhouette to remove all distracting background. Here’s a free template for lost cat flyers from Lost Cat Finder.
Include a request for neighbors to check around their homes/garages. Cats may have entered an open garage/shed and not been able to escape.
Use large, bright posters, one in your yard and one at each intersection within a 500-foot radius of your home or the point last seen.
In addition, you can place a flyer on every car and each door in the neighborhood, as many neighbors may not be out walking or take the time to read a sign.
Make mini versions of your flyer, four to a page. Distribute them to landscapers who often flush a cat out of hiding, local pet stores, vets, mailmen, and FedEx/UPS drivers.
Get permission from the nearest school to place a poster at the entrance of the student drop-off area.
Ask neighbors who may have outdoor cameras to review the footage to help look for your cat. The cat’s movement may trigger the camera, especially at night.
Do not put out kitty litter that will draw unwanted wildlife and bully cats. Instead, open a few windows to use the scent of home as a beacon.
Physically search for your cat, but do not call your cat unless you are within 100 feet of home or you see them. Search in the daytime; lure at night.
Use a flashlight as you look; the cat’s eyes will reflect the light even if you can’t see the shape of the cat itself.
Leave food and water outdoors to attract your cat to stay nearby. Wildlife may be attracted as well, so do not leave large quantities of food.
Contact your local humane society or community cat organization to rent/borrow a cat trap. Your cat may be too shy to come out to you but may enter the trap for food. Precautions include not leaving the trap open overnight or when you cannot check on it every hour. Trapped wildlife may harm themselves trying to escape.

For more on the science behind lost cats, watch this webinar featuring Monica Frenden-Tarant, former Maddie’s Fund® Director of Feline Lifesaving, and lost cat finder Kimberley Freeman.

Thanks to Human Animal Support Services (HASS) for these lost cat tips! Check out their Public Communication Guide for Lost Cats and Found Cats.

Lost Pet Prevention Tips

Here are a few simple steps you can take to help prevent your pet from getting lost and ensure that, if they are, you won’t be separated for long.

Microchip your pet. Microchipping is quick, easy, and painless for your pet and helps ensure you’ll be reunited with your pet if they do get lost, since a simple scan will pull up your contact information. It’s important to register your microchip and keep your information up to date in the event of an address or phone number change. Your pet can be microchipped at our shelter or at a veterinarian’s office. [If possible, include a link that allows pet owners to submit chip information to be registered in the shelter's database (and ideally in the free Found Animals registry as well), and provide info on shelter and/or other local opportunities for microchipping.]

Add an ID tag. Inexpensive tags imprinted with your pet’s name and your phone number/address are available at local pet stores and online. You can even purchase digital ID tags from places like Pet Hub that include QR codes, allowing anyone who finds your pet to easily pull up their pet profile with medical and contact info; Pet Hub can also automatically alert shelters if your pet goes missing.

Spay or neuter your pet. Among the many benefits of spay/neuter, it encourages pets to stick close to home. Unaltered pets have a greater urge to roam and may be more likely to stray from their home or yard.

Secure your yard/fencing. If you need help making sure your pet stays safe in your yard, our animal care officers can help! Reach out via email or phone [Insert preferred contact/scheduling method].

For another way to engage your community and share lost and found messaging, check out Front Street Animal Shelter's Lost2Found automated text messaging program; Front Street has also shared the files they used to get the program started via this link. The Human Animal Support Services (HASS) x HeARTs Speak Lost Pet Reunification Communications Kit provides many resources as well, including talking points, a customizable community action guide and graphics, and more.

What kind of animal did you find?

Close-up of a light-skinned, tattooed person with a beard holding a small dog with big, expressive eyes.

Thank you for sharing the care in our community! If you can hold a healthy, found pet for just 48 hours while searching for their owner, you can make reunification not just possible, but probable.

Lost pets’ chances of returning home rise when they can stay safely in the area where they are found rather than enter the shelter, and research has shown that most lost dogs are within a mile of their homes. In the average shelter, less than half of stray dogs and only 5% of cats are reclaimed by an owner, but when a pet is kept in the neighborhood where they were found, more pets are reunited with their families. Take 48 and follow these steps before bringing a found pet to the shelter, and you can help your neighbors—human and animal.

+ I found a dog.

Most dogs are found within one mile of their homes, and they are more likely to be reunited with their families if they stay in the neighborhood where they are found. In the average shelter, less than 20% of dogs ever make it back home, but when a pet can stay safely in the neighborhood where they were found, their chances of returning to their family increase dramatically. [Shelters, you can specify your local reclaim rates.] Here’s how you can help this pet:

Check for ID tags. To have the dog scanned for a microchip, you can request a visit from one of our animal care officers or bring the dog to a vet. You can also scan for a microchip at these community locations: [insert locations]. If needed, visit www.petmicrochiplookup.org to enter the microchip number and find the owner.
Post a photo and description of the animal on social media. Some options include NextDoor, Craigslist, Petco Love Lost, PawBoost, and surrounding neighborhood Facebook groups and local “Lost & Found Pets of [CITY NAME]” Facebook pages.
Walk the dog around the neighborhood where it was found and ask neighbors for help. You can also create a Found Pet flyer and post it in the area or distribute it to doorsteps of homes nearest where the dog was found.
Complete a Found Dog report on our website with a photo and check Lost Dog listings. Animals don’t know city limits, so file a found report with other shelters in the area.

Here's a tip from Mike Wheeler, who implemented a successful "First 48" program at Cabot Animal Support Services : Always thank finders for their compassion and explain that, if they can hold the animal for just two days while searching for the owner, the animal has a much higher chance of returning home than if it enters the shelter. Then, schedule a date and time for the finder to bring in the animal if an owner isn't located. Scheduling a set day/time reassures the finder and makes them more likely to help and gives you time to prepare in case the animal does need to enter the shelter. Win-win!

+ I found a cat who seems lost.

A cat who looks healthy with good body condition and coat is very rarely lost. Millions of pet cats are indoor/outdoor; we might not know where that cat lives, but good body condition tells us the cat knows where home is and will make its way back on its own. Even cats who are actually lost are as much as 50 times more likely to be reunited with their family if they stay in the neighborhood where they are found: In the average shelter, fewer than 1 in 20 cats ever make it back home, but when a pet can stay safely in the neighborhood where they were found, their chances of returning home increase dramatically. [Shelters, you can specify your local reclaim rate.]

Here’s how you can help this pet: Following the recommendations of leading national organizations such as the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program (KSMP), National Animal Care & Control Association (NACA), ASPCA, American Association of Feline Practitioners, and Million Cat Challenge, we do not admit healthy free-roaming cats to the shelter.

If the cat looks healthy, please put it back where you found it/leave it where it is. Refer to this I Found a Cat flowchart for more guidance. If you believe the cat is truly lost, here’s how you can help:

Wait a day or two to offer food, as extra feeding can discourage cats from going back home on their own.
Play detective—ask around your neighborhood to see if anyone recognizes them. If the cat is friendly, use this paper collar template to help determine if the cat is owned.
Post a photo and description of the animal on social media. Some options include NextDoor, Craigslist, Petco Love Lost, PawBoost, and surrounding neighborhood Facebook groups and local “Lost & Found Pets of [CITY NAME]” Facebook pages.
Create a Found Pet flyer and post it in the neighborhood or distribute it to doorsteps of homes nearest where the cat was found. Don’t think in terms of street travel—cats don’t!—think distance, or “as the crow flies,” and post flyers on all the major streets that transverse your neighborhood.
Complete a Found Cat report on our website with a photo and check Lost Cat listings. Animals don’t know city limits, so file a found report with other shelters in the area.
Check for ID tags. To have the cat scanned for a microchip, you can request a visit from one of our animal care officers or bring the dog to a vet. You can also scan for a microchip at these community locations: [insert locations]. If needed, visit www.petmicrochiplookup.org to enter the microchip number and find the owner.

+ I found a feral/neighborhood/community cat.

Community cats, sometimes called feral, stray, or outdoor cats, can be friendly or unsocial, but they aren’t lost: they are free-roaming cats who live—at least part of the time—outside. They share our neighborhoods and find shelter in yards, alleys, parking lots, and porches. Community cats may have one or more compassionate caregivers who help provide food and shelter, and, as a result, they often have more than one name. Following the recommendations of leading national organizations such as the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program (KSMP), National Animal Care & Control Association (NACA), ASPCA, American Association of Feline Practitioners, and Million Cat Challenge, we do not admit healthy free-roaming cats to the shelter.

We recognize the overwhelming benefits of leaving healthy cats with no signs of illness or injury in their environments, including reduced risk for that cat and every other cat in the shelter, increased chance of owner reunification for lost cats, and conserving resources for cats that truly need our help. Because of the powerful “vacuum effect,” removing a cat from its environment without also removing the food source has been linked to an increase in cat populations—by as much as 200% according to a 2014 study.

If a healthy, free-roaming cat is visiting your yard and has no identification:

Play detective—ask around your neighborhood to see if anyone recognizes them. If the cat is friendly, use this paper collar template to help determine if the cat is owned.
Schedule an appointment through our Community Cat Program, where cats and kittens 6–8 weeks of age will be spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and returned at no cost. [Or, depending on shelter capacity, invite community members to work with local spay/neuter groups or veterinarians.] This is the most effective and humane way to stabilize the free-roaming cat population.
For tips on reducing nuisance issues and humanely deterring the cat from your yard, visit How to Live with Cats in Your Neighborhood .

For more guidance, visit our Community Cats and Kittens page.

+ I found a kitten or a litter of kittens.

Thanks for looking out for the most vulnerable animals in our community! In most cases, kittens don’t actually need to be rescued—a kitten’s best chance of survival is with her mother. This flowchart will help you make decisions that increase kittens’ chances of thriving. To determine the age of a kitten, visit Alley Cat Allies kitten progression page. Follow these steps to help:

Step 1: Assess the kittens to confirm mom is providing care.

Are the kittens plump, clean, warm, and quiet? Mom is doing her job and likely just out getting dinner. It’s safe to leave her kittens in their nest.
Depending on your shelter capacity, you can also provide links and information for one of the following options:
- When kittens are 6-8 weeks old, they can be spayed/neutered through our Community Cat Program.
- When kittens are 6–8 weeks old, work with a local spay/neuter group to fix Mom, Dad, and kittens.
- If kittens are 6–8 weeks old, contact us at xxx-xxx-xxxx to make a plan.
Are the kittens skinny, dirty, cold, or noisy? Mom might not be around. Time to help her out and intervene. Advance to Step 2.

Step 2: You’re a new foster parent! Don’t worry—we’re here to help. Visit https://www.kittenlady.org/kitten-care and Maddie's Fund for resources and guidance on raising kittens.

If kittens appear sick or injured and you’re unable to get them care through a local veterinary clinic, call us at xxx-xxx-xxxx. (View this infographic for signs of a sick or injured kitten.)
Can’t care for the kittens? Be a hero and keep kittens safe in a home by finding someone who can foster until they are old enough to be spayed/neutered and adopted.