The Best Ways to Find a Lost Pet

Having any member of the family disappear brings with it incredible concern but there can be something exquisitely hurtful when that loved one is a cherished pet. A child of a certain age, for example, should know how to get home or at least be able to offer information to others to help them get back. Yet few pets speak; they need us to employ the very best ways to find a lost pet if they have any hope to make it home again.

Some of the best steps you can take to find a lost pet start well before that pet disappears. Tags and other identifying information attached to a collar can help enormously. Be sure your cat or dog, even if he or she is normally an indoor-only pet, carries proper identification. This low-tech and low cost solution can work incredibly well in reuniting a lost pet with its home.

Also, you have no doubt heard in the news about special micro chips that can be embedded directly in an animal’s skin that can help track a missing pet. While some serve as mere computer-based identifiers so that someone who finds your missing pet can be sure it is yours, others get fairly sophisticated.

Some companies are experimenting with global positioning satellite or GPS tracking that can be affixed to a collar or implanted subcutaneously. Unfortunately, the more sophisticated the process, the more you will pay, often both in one-time setup and then in monthly fees. Yet, if you have the money, it may be worth the price for your overall peace of mind as well as the safety of your beloved pet.

Also prepare by taking lots of photographs of your pet or pets. If you have a digital camera, this can be a perfect way to snap quick pictures whenever your pet’s appearance changes. For example, your dog may look very different when he is fully clipped for summer than he does in the winter when you may let his fur grow long for outdoor warmth.

These photos not only document your four-legged loved one for your album. They can also serve as a way to capture attention and interest if your pet becomes lost. Many pet owners report best results in finding a lost pet when they print up posters or flyers that show two or three different “looks” for their pet. A picture is far more effective than simply printing: “LOST: Brown dog with brown collar” because that description can sound like a hundred other dogs in the same area.

This raises another point: be prepared to give a full and accurate description. Police can tell you how many times a spouse misreports the color of his wife’s or child’s eyes when it is normally harder to lose a person than a pet. People tend to documentation that says who they are. This is not the case for pets. Even the aforementioned collar and pets may be removed by someone or may catch on a branch or brush that can tear a collar and tags away. Likewise, you should note something like a colorful bandanna you add to your pet for style but understand that this may not be on the animal when it is spotted.

One of the best ways to approach a description is while you still have your pet on hand. Look for remarkable and/or distinguishing features and then note them on paper or in your computer. Fur color, breed, eye color, ear shape, scars (including those from surgery), and other features less apt to change can be some of the strongest features to identify. Others, like weight or the appearance of the coat itself may undergo change if a pet remains missing for a period of time.

If your pet is then lost, you have what you need to act. Start by immediately contacting neighbors, knocking on doors and making phone calls until you reach everyone. At the same time, you need to prepare posters or flyers to post throughout your area. These can be very helpful in general, but also specifically when you contact – as you should – all area animal welfare organizations as well as animal wardens. Don’t limit yourself to those in just your immediate area. In some regions, multiple agencies may be involved and all should be aware of your missing pet and have that pet’s description and photos.

Make sure you include contact information for yourself. These days, it does not hurt to add your email address to the list. There are some people who just will not pick up a phone to call anyone but some of these same folks will go to the trouble of writing email.

Because there can be so many different people and groups to contact, try to enlist the help of family members or friends. You can divide a long list into sections so that each person is responsible to contact a more manageable number of groups and authorities.

Don’t forget to call veterinary hospitals and animal shelters, too; the potential always exists that your animal was picked up or brought in. Where possible, you should visit all facilities that care for unclaimed animals every day or two. If you only call these facilities, information may not go past the person you speak with. Yet, if you show up regularly to look for your pet, you stand better odds that someone at a shelter will remember your story and description of your pet.

Some police departments will accept missing animal reports although this is not universally true. If your local department does not, approach the officers who regularly patrol through your neighborhood and alert them to your missing pets.

Also make a point to peruse area newspapers for ads containing information about lost pets and those who have been found. Who knows? You might come upon someone else with a lost pet and discover that pet in your travels to find yours. Another person may find your dear pet as well. Some local animal shelters may post pictures of recently picked up animals as well that you can browse through on the World Wide Web.

Should you offer a reward? This is always a tough call. Many experts say that a reward of any size generally garners more attention from the public. Such attention can be a bonus if it raises the consciousness of people who actually spot your pet. In reality, however, there does not seem to be hard and fast proof that a reward will make it any more likely you will find your lost love.

Finally, as difficult as it may be, try not to become thoroughly discouraged very quickly. Lost pets sometimes turn up months and even years later. But if you give up on the pet coming home after just a few days, you are less likely to do the legwork and calls necessary that may ultimately bring your four-legged friend home.

How well do these recommendations work? As a life-long pet owner, I’ve had the misfortune to have a few cats disappear over the years. Most came home on their own. But, even when they did not, my solicitations always produced a number of calls and with them, chances to try to find a pet I loved very much.

In one case, a man called anonymously, crying as he said he had been driving near our home and hit the cat by accident. Although I first assumed it was a cruel prank, I decided to explore. Sadly, the call was accurate. I found my beloved tabby in a run-off ditch alongside a connecting road. At least, however, I knew where she was and could bury her appropriately. It truly was a case where it was ultimately better to know than wonder and worry about her for the remainder of her natural life.