Lost Pets
Advice & Tips we hope you never have to use.
For a printable copy, click here.
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The Basics
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Search your neighborhood immediately, and on a regular basis thereafter.​
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Tell friends, neighbors, mail carrier, etc. to keep an eye out for your pet.​
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Most counties have Facebook pages dedicated to lost and found pets. For example: “Lost and Found Pets of Hillsborough County”, “Lost and Found Pets in West Pasco”, etc. These types of Facebook pages are good resources that have reunited many pets with their families.
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Post flyers. Here's a tool to help create one: https://www.24petwatch.com/lost-pet-protection/lost-pet-poster-generator. Hang them in your neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods as well. Hang them on street lights, community bulletin boards like those in the HOA/community center (or the apt. management office) and near mailboxes if your community has a cluster mailbox setup.
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Ask local businesses to post the flyer in their window (bring tape with you). Focus on gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants and coffee shops.
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Post flyers at pet-related businesses including veterinarians, dog groomers, pet shops, doggie daycares, etc.
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Post on Petco Love Lost, a free database that uses advanced technology to analyze images of lost pets and match it to pets on it's vast database that includes pets reported by individuals, including found pets that people post on NextDoor, as well as thousands of shelter partners across the country. Here's the link: https://petcolove.org/lost/.
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Call and visit every animal shelter in your county and neighboring counties (see tip below). Hang flyers and ask staff/volunteers to be on the lookout for your pet. Please understand that contacting one shelter does not mean that all shelters will be looking for your dog. Shelters operate as their own entity. You must call and visit each individually.
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Tip: While most pets are found in the general area where they live, we also recommend expanding your search to surrounding neighborhoods. A person could see your pet while driving and pick him/her up and continue driving to where they live – which may be a different community! They could be posting “Found” flyers or contacting shelters in their neighborhood. We cannot stress this enough: Expand your search.
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If your pet is microchipped - and they should be - call the microchip company immediately to make sure they have your up-to-date contact information.
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Post on apps like Next Door, Finding Rover, etc.
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Tip: Refrain from using photos where the pet is surrounded by people or other pets – it’s distracting. Ideally, there should be two photos: one close up and one full body.
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IMPORTANT: When describing your pet, leave out a unique detail. For example, if your dog has a heart-shaped spot on her belly – don’t put that on your posts. If someone claims to have your pet, you can ask them to describe the unique detail to be sure you’re not getting scammed and/or to ensure it’s really your pet.
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Contact local rescues and ask them to keep an eye out. For example if your pet is a Pug or Pug Mix, contact local Pug rescues.
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Post in the Lost & Found section of the newspaper. It’s old school but the person who may have found your pet might be old school.
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Get Creative
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Create a Facebook page dedicated to finding your dog. Invite all your friends to “Like” & “Share” the page to help it gain traction. Post daily. A Tampa Bay resident lost their French Bulldog and started a page called Bring (Name of Dog) Home. Three weeks later, someone who had seen the Facebook page noticed someone in their neighborhood walking the dog. The dog was reunited with the owners.
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Offer a reward. Contact media outlets.
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Finally, never give up!
P.O. BOX 340107
Tampa, FL 33694
