Help! I Lost my pet!
Where do you start your lost pet search?
The side gate was left open and your dog has escaped. You run down the street calling his name, drive the side streets. No sight. Now what? You don’t even know when he got out. It could have been hours!
Where do you start?
Lost Pet Tip #1: Go in person to the nearest pet shelter (aka “dog pound”)
The public pet shelter (dog pound) is the first place to start. If someone turned him in, he’s impounded. Go there in person. You know what your pet looks like. Yes, get in your car and drive to the nearest dog pound.
To do: File a missing pet report
While at the pet shelter, be sure to file a “missing pet report.”
Lost Pet Tip #2: Expand your search to other nearby shelters
Ok, your pet’s not there? At this point you’ll also need to expand your search to include pet shelters farther away as well.
Why? The person who finds your pet may live in another area and may just be driving through when they find your pet. This could result in them taking the animal to the shelter nearest to where they live. This is why you’ll need the broader list of shelters.
To do: Go online and file a missing pet report at other shelters as well.
How Pets Think: Boundaries are blurry for a wandering animal
A wandering pet can easily cross a county line. This will complicate your search.
Here’s an example. Lindero Canyon is an approximate dividing line for Ventura County and Los Angeles County. Did your pet go towards Ventura County or towards Los Angeles County? If they ran east, you look in one shelter (Los Angeles County). If they ran west, you look in another (Ventura County).
Here’s how it goes in our area. Ventura County cities include Oak Park, Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks, Moorpark and Simi Valley as well as part of Westlake Village. Los Angeles County cities include Agoura, Agoura Hills and part of Westlake Village. So it’s very easy for a pet to cross from Los Angeles County into Ventura County, triggering a different pool of resources and falling in a different jurisdiction.
Conclusion: Look at all the shelters in the area. Or at least be aware that the nearest one may not be where your pet was taken.
Shelter Search #1:
Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control http://animalcare.lacounty.gov
Agoura Animal Care Center 29525 Agoura Rd (818) 991-0071
http://animalcare.lacounty.gov/ You can also search for a lost pet, enter microchip number.
Shelter Search #2:
LA Animal Services http://www.laanimalservices.com/shelters/ This is the shelter locator, with a map. The San Fernando Valley is covered in this jurisdiction.
West Valley Animal Shelter 20655 Plummer St, Chatsworth, CA 91311
East Valley Animal Shelter 14409 Vanowen St., Van Nuys, CA 91405
Shelter Search #3:
Ventura County Animal Services http://www.vcas.us/lost-found
Lost Pet Tip #3: Know your microchip number (You’ll need it for positive I.D. of the animal)
Micro-chipping is done so that even if your pet doesn’t have a collar and ID tags, the chip can be read by the shelter or a vet’s office. Micro-chipped animals have a greater likelihood of being reunited as long as you keep the information on file up to date.
Have the microchip number on hand as you start your search. And for the future, each time you renew your pet’s license, be sure to go over the pet information to ensure your contact information is up to date. Make sure your cell phone is listed as the contact phone number.
Lost Pet Tip #4: Post flyers in the neighborhood
Create a flyer with your dog’s description, photo, area where lost, and a cell phone number to contact you. Post them everywhere near the area where he was last seen. Street sign poles, telephone poles, coffee shop bulletin boards, etc. are good places.
Go back and replace them periodically in case someone removes them. Also post along main thoroughfares. You want everyone to see the flyer.
Go door to door on the surrounding streets to leave flyers (where permitted) on doorsteps. You want neighbors to be aware that your pet is missing. After all, they may know something. What to put on your flyer: your pet’s photo, description, approximate location they went missing, and how to reach you (your cell). Your cell number is important because many people will text over leaving a voicemail.
Lost Pet Tip #5: Expand your pet search to social media and other online resources
Resource #1: Next Door
This neighborhood group is one of the best ways to find your lost dog or lost cat if they escaped from your property. There are many happy reunions through this site.
Resource #2: Craigslist
Craigslist has a lost pets section under Community >Lost And Found. Check both Ventura.craigslist.org and Losangeles.craigslist.org (see the SFV tab for the San Fernando Valley section.)
While you’re looking in Craigslist’s Community category, also check in Community >Pets. Some people post in the wrong category, so you need to check both sections.
Look in “pets for sale”. Some people are looking to make a buck and will try to sell your animal, especially if it’s a purebred. So while you’re checking Community page, also look under Community >Pets to see if someone is trying to sell it.
Resource #3: Facebook pages
Do a search on Facebook for “lost pets [your city].” Be sure to look under the PAGES tab. There are a lot of local sites!
One thing noted in the Thousand Oaks Missing Pets site is the following. Remember, it is not “finders keepers.”
I recently saw someone post “Free Boxer”. The site participants quickly corrected them that it’s someone else’s dog, thank goodness. Honestly, who advertises someone else’s pet as free!!!
** Please note that by LAW you are NOT allowed to give away or adopt out any found dog as it may belong to someone. Animal Shelters must be contacted and owners must be looked for.
Here are just a few local sites:
https://www.facebook.com/thousandoaksmissingpets/
https://www.facebook.com/Agouramissingpets/
https://www.facebook.com/venturacountymissingpets/
https://www.facebook.com/SimiMissingPets/
https://www.facebook.com/pg/venturacountymissingpets
Here are a few more internet sites to check out:
Pet Harbor http://petharbor.com
Las Posas Veterinary Medical Center https://lasposasvet.com/have-you-lost-your-pet/#chapter3
Great list of what to do if your pet is lost. They also have a list of local Ventura County shelters and rescues. There is also a list of local Facebook pages for missing pets, by city. This is truly a great resource if your dog or cat is missing.
Lost Pet Tip #6: NEVER GIVE UP ON FLUFFY!!!
Yes, NEVER give up. It’s hard to go through, but keep looking and don’t give up. Pets can turn up years later. Your pet is counting on you!
HELP! I FOUND SOMEONE ELSE’S PET! Now what?
What if you find a lost pet wandering the streets? Let’s assume it’s a dog. If they have an ID tag with a phone number and address, fantastic. Then you can call the owner and return it, or take it to the address on the tag.
If no ID, the process is similar to if you lose a pet. You’ll need to head to the nearest public pet shelter to see if there’s a microchip. They have a microchip reader there.
In case you feel tempted to keep the animal, here’s something that’s important to remember: It’s not “finder’s keepers”. You cannot keep the pet. In fact, here’s a cautionary reminder from the Ventura County Missing Pets Facebook page
“Please note that by LAW you are NOT allowed to give away or adopt out any found dog as it may belong to someone. Animal Shelters must be contacted and owners must be looked for.”
One thing that needs to be mentioned is the importance of your safety in dealing with an unknown animal. You’ll need to restrain the animal. Got a leash? Or a crate? You may have your hands full with a loose dog in your car. Get a second person to help, if you can.
Here’s a reminder from the Ventura County Lost Pets Facebook page:
“If you FIND a LOST pet
– Please safely secure the dog with a leash or place it in an enclosed safe indoor area
**First and Foremost please be safe, use your common sense and do not endanger yourselves or the animal.”
These are such true words of wisdom. Keep yourself safe first. And keep the animal safe by restraining it.
Found Tip #1: Start at the nearest public shelter
Take the dog to the closest public pet shelter to where you found it. This will increase the likelihood of the pet being returned to its owner. Owners will start the search at the closest pet shelter to where it was lost.
Make a note of the cross street where you found the dog and write it down. This is important because things can get confusing really quickly when you’re managing an animal that you are unfamiliar with. The location and cross streets where you found the dog is important because you will be reporting it to the animal shelter during the intake. You also may want to return back to the site to place “pet found” flyers on the nearby streets, to help reunite the pet with the owner, and you’ll want to remember exactly where that was.
My Story: This happened to me (I found a lost dog)
My daughter and I were on our way back from dog training class in the Valley, with our own dog in the back seat when we spotted a little Yorkie heading towards a fast moving main street. Yes, running toward traffic, so we were terrified that the dog would get hit. We pulled over and my daughter jumped out to lure the running pooch.
She was filthy, extremely long nails, no collar. What to do? How to find the owner? And a blisteringly hot summer day.
To restrain her we used our own dog’s leash and placed her on the floor of the passenger seat, by my daughter’s feet. She was no small handful. She growled and snarled at my dog (clearly dog aggressive) while my dog ignored her in the back seat in a “down stay.” I wished I had a crate.
When picking up a strange dog, it’s important to remember that all dogs are different. We certainly had our hands full. Just because you find a dog doesn’t mean you have the ability to even drive it to a shelter. I had my daughter to help, and it was a major challenge with the tiny snarling, barking, restrained Yorkie.
Maybe her owner was looking for her. We drove up and down the side street and talked to several people, to see if they knew the dog. No luck. We stayed a while where we found her, hoping the owner might look for her on the street. No luck with that either.
The only animal shelter we knew about was the one in Agoura, so off we went (Agoura Animal Care Center off of Agoura Rd.).
First they checked her for a microchip. None. In order to have the best chance of reuniting with her owner, they advised us to take her back to the Valley, to the animal shelter nearest to where we found her. She had the best possible chance of her owner finding her this way, by being “local”.
The nearest shelter to where we found her turned out to be the West Valley Animal Shelter, so we loaded her up, snarls and all, and headed on over before they closed. The Agoura shelter lent us a crate to transport her, which was a godsend. It cut way down on the drama inside our car.
The West Valley animal shelter intake officer observed that she was “dog aggressive”, something we had already seen. At this point the shelter became her guardian. Should the owner not come forth, they assured us that she would be easy to adopt out, since she was so cute (dirty, long nails and all, which they would fix with a bath and some grooming). They also took her photo, published where we found her, and held her for a period of time, giving the owner a chance to reclaim her.
Ultimately the owner never showed up, and she was adopted out to a new home. This may have been for the best because she was clearly in a state of neglect.
They also advised us to post her on Craigslist, but to be careful of pretenders looking to market purebreds for profit. Yes, some scoundrels will pretend to be the owner so that they can get the dog to sell for a profit. Ultimately, the owner did not turn up
My Advice and What I learned:
Have a list of local animal shelters that take in lost dogs. This could have saved me the zigzag back and forth.
Carry a spare leash in your car. I only had one because my dog was with me, and I was able to use his in an emergency. Since then I now have a couple cheap leashes like they give at the groomers, just for this purpose.Y
