Tips and Hints that may help you in finding your lost Pet

Begin with your search as soon as you notice that your pet is gone.

• Start your search in and around your home (your pet may just be taking a nap in a remote area of your house).
• Begin searching in your immediate surroundings: walk, ride a bike or a car, and call your pet's name.
  If you are taking your dog for regular walks, follow that path.
• Listen for barking dogs: dogs like to bark at other animals, and the other pet might be yours.
• Continue this search (as time allows) until you find your pet again.

Time is of extreme essence!

Make fliers of your pet and distribute the fliers.

• Use a large type font, so that the text can be read from a distance.
• Use a bright color paper, or design the flier in color (to attract attention).
• List your pet's distinctive features (be short, but descriptive).
• Include a photograph of your pet.
• Be sure to list the following items:
  • Area, from which the pet is missing.
  • Date, on which the pet was last seen.
  • Date, on which the pet was last seen.
• Distribute the fliers. Make sure that you always keep a few fliers, anywhere you go. You might find other individuals, who love pets and will be looking out for yours.
  Possible distribution points include:
  • Mailboxes.
  • Veterinary offices in your area.
  • Animal shelters and rescue organizations in your area.
  • Bulletin boards in grocery stores and other stores with high traffic.
  • Back of traffic signs.
  • Utility posts.
  • Churches.
  • Schools and other public buildings.
  • If you are close to a school bus route, you can ask the bus drivers to show the fliers to the school children.
  • If there is a business park in the area, ask the business owners to put fliers around the office.
    

Fliers turned out to be extremely helpful in our case. We distributed approximately 1800 fliers. (The cost for this was somewhere near $100.00, and most copying services can produce the copies within a few hours.)

If you decide to offer a reward, add this to the flier. If the reward is less than $100.00, you should not include the dollar amount on the flier, but still mention the reward.

We received a number of very good leads as a result of the distribution of the fliers to mailboxes. In fact, it was one of our many fliers that caught the attention of the individual, who found Bucky.

Be careful in evaluating the possible leads. You may get calls or e-mails from people, who have seen a pet that resembles yours. However, when discussing the features of your pet, you may find out that the pet in question is not yours.

Place an ad in your local newspaper(s).

• Provide similar information as in the fliers. Again, be short and descriptive. Make sure to mention a reward, if you decide to pay one.
• If the area in which you live in has more than one newspaper, make sure to place an ad in all papers (no matter how localized the paper may be).

Place an ad with an on-line service.

• Provide similar information as in the fliers. Please click on "Links" to go to our page with an on-line service listing.
  

Tell the kids in your neighborhood.

• Most kids love pets, and are eager to help when trying to locate a lost pet. Kids can proof to be an invaluable source: they get around more than most adults do, and they have a keen sense for locating lost pets.
  

Tell as many people as you can.

• 
  The more people know about your lost pet, the better the chances of finding it. The individuals that you are telling about your pet may not be the ones who will find it, but maybe they know someone else, who has recently found a lost pet.
  

Visit your area shelters.

• In case that your pet was turned into a shelter, make sure to visit your area shelters at least twice per week. Make sure to provide the shelter with a description of your pet and with your telephone number, so that the shelter can contact you.
• You may also want to leave a flier or two at the shelter.
• Continue your visits twice per week for as long as your pet is missing.

Does your pet wear a microchip or does it have a tatoo?

• If this applies, you may want to call the organization that handles the microchip or tatoo and register your pet as missing.
• Remember to call the organization back, after your pet is found again.

Put some worn clothing outside of your home.

• Your pet may pick up your scent and find his or her way home in this manner.

Call your pet.

• Call your pet's name as soon as you get up in the morning and before you go to bed in the evening. Your pet maybe close and hear your calls.

Think positive!

Searching for your pet may drain your energy level. The more positive your thoughts about your pet, the more energy you have, thus keeping your energy level high. Your pet deserves every ounce of energy that you can put in his/her search.

If you had an experience with a lost and found pet, and your tips are not included here, please feel free to e-mail us. We may include your tips in an updated version of this page.

If you would like, you can download a sample flier or a sample letter to veterinary offices in Word and Adobe Acrobat format: