Found Pet Tips

A lost pet has a much better chance of getting home to their family if you hold onto them for a few days and proactively search for the owner using the tips below. Only 1 out of 3 dogs and 1 out of 10 cats brought to shelters are found by their families. Holding onto the animal also saves space in crowded shelters, so you're helping to save lives.

Step 1

Make it easy for someone who lost a pet to find you by filling out a found pet report on Petco Love Lost's website.

Step 2

Make a found pet ad on Craigslist (with photo) and post to the Nextdoor neighborhood where the pet was found

Step 3

There are many Facebook groups for lost and found pets for different areas in and around Sacramento. Post a picture and description of the pet in the Facebook groups near where the pet was found.

Step 4

Search the above locations (Craigslist, Nextdoor, Facebook groups) to see if the owner has posted an ad looking for his/her pet.

Step 5

Take the pet to a shelter or veterinarian to scan for a microchip. Ask for the microchip number and search it on the microchip look-up website.

Step 6

Walk the pet around the neighborhood where the pet was found and ask neighbors if they might know who its family is.

Step 7

Make found pet posters and hang them at the 6 busiest intersections near where you found the pet. Watch this YouTube video on the proper way to create and post a pet poster.

Step 8

Continue to update and re-post your online found pet posts every couple of days.

 

aerial map of the streets and freeways in Sacramento open_in_full

Lost and found pets on a map

This online tool is an interactive, visual map created by Petco Love and integrated with the Nextdoor and Ring apps to provide real-time updates and lets users and view reports of lost and found pets.

Users can report and search for lost, found, or sighted pets directly on the map. When a user zooms in on an area, it will display a photo of the pet, when the pet was lost or found, and the finder of the stray pet or the owner of a lost pet.

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