1. Fill out a Lost Report as Completely and as Soon as possible at all animal shelters near you. Most shelters require that you file a lost report in person to insure that you have the opportunity to look for your pet and also to look through the shelter Found Book, DOA and injury reports. If you are disabled, ill or have extenuating circumstances which prevent you from going to the shelter in person, some shelters will try to assist you by having a staff member look through the files for you.
2. Make Lost Posters and Post in the Area Where you Think your Pet was Lost. If possible, include a photograph of your pet on the posters.
3. Contact Veterinarians in Your Area to See if Someone has Brought in an Injured or Lost Animal. A list of local veterinarians should be available at your local animal shelter
4. Place an ad in the Lost Section of ALL major and local newspapers. Placer County residents can call the Sacramento Bee classified department at 916.321.1234 or Gold Country Media Classified 530.885.6585. Be sure to check the Found Pet ads in the classified section of the newspapers.
5. Go Door-to-Door in the Neighborhood where your pet was lost to see if anyone has seen your pet.
6. Show a picture of your animal and ask others to keep an eye out for your pet. Ask children, they often know the animals in the area.
7. Check the Internet. For Placer County Residents, the Auburn and Tahoe Vista animal shelters now post all their animals at Petharbor.com Other shelters use the same service so be sure to check.
You can browse photos and/or descriptions of all animals at the facility. More importantly, you can list your lost pet at this website. And because individuals often find animals they do not bring to the shelter, but instead, keep at their homes while looking for the owner, listing your pet becomes another important tool to help you locate you lost friend. The Petharbor website allows you to select specific shelters (i.e., Placer County Animal Shelter Auburn or Placer County Animal Shelter Tahoe Vista) from a list of participating facilities. By providing your e-mail address, a daily listing of animals matching the description of your animal will be sent to you to browse. You will also be able to download a photo of your pet to help in your search.
If you do not live in Placer County, we want you to know that several shelters use this Petharbor website tool so be sure to complete a posting in your geographical area. Entering your zip code will automatically direct you to participating shelters.
8. You can list a lost pet on these websites:
Craigslist.org in your local area. Be sure ot post a duplicate listing under COMMUNITY in both sub-categories PETS and LOST & FOUND.
Petfinder.com For the safety of all animals lost and found, be prepared to show proof of ownership, i.e., photo, and/or veterinary records (with description of animal), before redeeming your pet from a private party.
All of us here at FRIENDS and HSSF hope you find this page helpful in locating your animal. We understand the sense of loss you feel at this time and wish you much success in finding your friend.
DO NOT GIVE UP. Pets are sometimes reunited with their owners several weeks after they are lost.
