Lost Pet Search Techniques
Resources to find your lost pet:
- Look at all the Lost Pet Help tips on the Missing Animal Response web page and put the tips into practice. Especially the huge neon signs at major intersections and car tagging for both lost cats and dogs.
- Find your cat based on their temperament: www.missinganimalresponse.com/lost-cat-behavior
- Find your dog based on their temperament: www.missinganimalresponse.com/lost-dog-behavior
- Skittish, fearful dog? Don’t call at it, whistle, chase, walk towards or make eye contact. Here’s why and what to do instead.
Kat Albrecht, MAR, video on calming signals. - Here’s a video example of what you’re likely to encounter and the patience needed as you try to lure a skittish dog. Had the person had a snappy snare, they would have likely caught her during this time. This encounter video is not associated with MAR.
- Find your cat based on their temperament: www.missinganimalresponse.com/lost-cat-behavior
- Contact an expert at Lost Cat Finder: https://www.lostcatfinder.com/services
- All About Animals Rescue loans both cat and dog humane traps for recovery. Dog traps are available only at the Warren facility.
- If your pet is microchipped, call where the chip is registered right away and make sure the contact information is up to date. If you’re not sure your pet microchip is registered, it’s probably not, but it’s not too late to register. Enter the microchip number at this site and you can see if it’s registered: http://www.petmicrochiplookup.org/ (Have you found a pet and the microchip information goes nowhere? This free resource may track them down! https://www.microchiphelp.com/)
- Cats may join up with feral cat colonies fed by caretakers. Ask any colony caretakers in the area to keep a watch for new cats. Neighbors may know who feeds cats in the area.
- Post lost or found pets on Petco Love Lost. It’s free. Facial recognition works! https://lost.petcolove.org/
- Check your local animal shelters every couple days and leave a flyer with your pets picture in color there too. They do not have to hold on to pets long. Don’t rely on someone at the counter telling you your pet isn’t there.
- Ask your local police and animal control who else you should contact.
- Post on your local Craigslist: http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites#US
- Use Social Media to your advantage. Pictures of your pet and contact information like email or telephone number is key in your post. Ask people to share to bring your pet home. Pay for a Facebook ad. It’s worked! Try creating a page devoted to bringing your pet back home. Many social media platforms have pages or groups devoted to local areas. Nextdoor.com has been a fantastic resource to reach neighbors. Join and post there too.
- Techniques and tool guide to capturing hard to catch dogs by Jim Branson.
- Live in Michigan? Make sure to post on For the Love of Louie Facebook page and make sure to check reply comments. And of course look through posts to see if someone has posted a found post. This is where most rescues are going to post and check when a dog comes in: https://www.facebook.com/For-the-Love-of-Louie-Michigan-Lost-Pet-Lookers-264553563570926/
- Live in/near Detroit, Michigan? Make sure to also post and look through old posts on these two Facebook pages: Lost and Found Pets (Detroit) https://www.facebook.com/groups/lostfoundpetsdetroit/ and SW Detroit lost & found pets https://www.facebook.com/groups/1101551603274066/
- Live near South Lyon Michigan? South Lyon Murphy Animal Recovery aids in the recovery and trapping of lost animals.
More Cat Tips:
From Bill Bradley, a gentleman who searched for his cat and found her after many weeks.
I lost my wonderful little cat ‘P’ aka, ‘Peapod’ in a blistering July heat wave for over a month. After weeks of caring sightings a wonderful women called me and told me my cat was on her deck visiting her two indoor cats. I rushed over and began my CIA investigation and interrogation.
She affirmed, it was my cat that had been visiting. I set up a trap with her blanket, favorite foods and the next day she was in the trap! Here are some of the techniques and tips to help you find your companion. You can find them and bring them home!
- Cats tend to stay within about a five to ten block area from where they left. Many cats stay within 5 or 6 houses. They are close but scared and confused, so they can’t find their way home.
- Your cat will probably NOT come to you. He/she is very scared. You will most likely need to use a humane trap. Humane Socities/Animal Shelters and even spay/neuter clinics have them for a small fee or no charge. We have had cases where a 13 year old cat would not come to her owner, even though the owner was only 5 feet away. Once trapped and reintegrated into the home, the kitty was fine.
- Establish a mental image of that area as a grid and begin to search that grid and them repeat.
- Print flyers with photo and some details, as breed, color, age, size, and location lost from, etc. and contact phone number.
- Deliver flyers to all area Veterinarians, pet supply stores, neighborhood workers, postal workers, utlitity workers, firemen, policemen, landscapers, crossing guards, construction workers, and neighbhood kids (kids seem to see everything and like to help!). Place on the flyers on telephone poles, coffee shop bulletin boards, and store windows.
- Contact animals control officers at local city hall or police stations.
- Visit area animal shelters, rescue organizations, Humane Society in person. Remember, your pet could turn up months later.
- After the Amber Alert started for children in 1996, Petamberalert.com and Lostmydoggie.com were created from that model. The companies offer varying tiers of service, for fees, i.e. Fax posters, to local veteriarians and animal shelters, plus the instant phone calls. Petamberalert claims, 85% success rate. Fee starts at $59.95, Mylostdoggie was less.
- Microchip, plus PetHub.com offers digital ID with a QR code. Anyone with a smartphone can scan the tag and contact you.
- For a small fee that Robo call services will send out pleasant announcements regarding you lost animals to all homes in the area.
- Use Facebook and ask people to repost. For the Love of Louie has a lost pets page and will share with others.
- Post in the local newspaper. Seniors tend to still read local papers and they are out in their yards, etc. Some will run the notice in their ‘lost animals’ category for free.
- Create a local system and then constantly hit the ground. At the end of the day, the owner has to keep up the pressure and search, it’s on them.
–Bill Bradley
