Lost & Found Pets
Lost Pet
1. Create “Lost” posters.
Include your contact information, the pet’s name, a color photo, and if possible a reward. Templates can be found at petharbor.com and don’t forget to register your dog as missing while you’re there. Dogs can travel great distances so be sure you start close to home and begin expanding distribution in all directions.
2. Post on Nextdoor and Craigslist in the Lost & Found Section.
The Nextdoor website and smartphone app allows you to communicate immediately with your neighbors and surrounding communities. When using Craigslist, be as descriptive as possible. https://phoenix.craigslist.org/search/laf
3. Post on Petco Love Lost.
Enter a photo of your missing pet and search the Petco Love Lost national pet database to find them.
4. Visit Maricopa County Animal Care & Control’s Lost and Found page.
View animals picked up by Animal Control Officers and/or post your lost pet. gis.maricopa.gov
5. Post on Facebook.
Make a post for both lost and found pets on Straydar and Lost Dogs Arizona Facebook pages as well as your own page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Straydar/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LDOAZ/
6. Place dirty clothes outside of your front door, or the pet’s favorite bed or litter box.
These familiar scents of home will help pets find their way back to you.
7. Tell everyone you know.
8. Most importantly, check with the shelters each and every day – in person if possible.
- Maricopa County Animal Care & Control – East and West Valley shelters
www.maricopa.gov/pets - Arizona Humane Society – Central & South Valley shelters
www.azhumane.org
Found Pet
So you found a lost pet. First of all, thank you for caring enough to take the dog or cat off the streets, you’re their best chance of finding their way back home.
If you are unable to hold the pet for a short period of time, take the pet to Maricopa County Animal Care & Control or call to have the pet picked up by an Animal Control Officer. www.maricopa.gov/pets
If you are able to hold the pet, here are some helpful tips for reuniting the lost pet with its owner.
1. Take the pet to the nearest vet and have them scanned for a microchip.
(This is usually free.) If the pet has a chip, follow the directions given to you by the microchip manufacturer.
2. Visit www.petharbor.com to post the pet as found and download a Found Dog flyer template.Include a photo and a brief description as well as your contact information. Post the flyers near where you found the pet, in all directions.
3. Post on Nextdoor and Craigslist.
Post the pet on Nextdoor, a website and smartphone app, which allows you to connect with neighbors and surrounding communities. With Craigslist, it’s helpful to withhold one detail of the pet that only an owner would know (i.e. distinctive marking, color of collar, etc…) to prevent the wrong owner from claiming a pet.
4. Post the pet on Maricopa County Animal Care & Control’s website.
5. Post the pet on Petco Love Lost.
Take a photo of the pet and post it on Petco Love Lost. This is a nationwide database.
6. Post the pet on Straydar and Lost Dogs Arizona Facebook pages specifically for lost and found pets in the Greater Phoenix area.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/Straydar/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LDOAZ/
In the event you have tried unsuccessfully to reunite the pet with its owner for a reasonable amount of time (we suggest at least 7 days), and you cannot keep the pet permanently, reach out to rescues in our community. A list can be found by visiting PACC911’s website. https://pacc911.org/rescue-partners-list