Petfinders is the nonprofit lost and found
service of the Pet Club of America, and has been recovering
missing pets since 1976.
Follow
these guidelines. If your pet is not recovered immediately,
call us at (800) 666-5678. We will answer your questions,
check our database to see if anything unusual has been happening
in your area, and begin a Petfinders search within a 60 mile
radius of where you lost your pet within the hour.
Most
pets are recovered, it's important that you follow our recommendations
in the sequence they are presented.-DO NOT GIVE UP HOPE!
First, think about the tags your pet was wearing, and call
the appropriate agencies. For example, if your pet was wearing
a tag with a shelter phone number, call that shelter; if your
pet was wearing a vaccination tag , call the veterinarian
that inoculated your pet; if you are a member of Petfinders,
call our 24-hour member phone number. Inform the respective
agencies that your pet is missing, and alert them to the possibility
that they may get a phone call from someone that has found
the pet.
Next, call the local animal shelter. You can get the number
from the yellow pages under animal shelters, the municipal
section of the white pages, or by calling your town or city
hall. Give the shelter a full description of your pet.
Then,
prepare a flyer giving only a physical description of your
pet. Do not give the name of the pet (it may not answer to
its name when it is lost and frightened); do not give any
behavioral information (behavior changes dramatically when
a pet is lost); do not give exact location lost (it is not
a question of how far your pet will travel on its own -- what
often happens is that people who find a stray take it to their
home quite a distance away, and then they either put it out
again or it gets out. Your pet can be anywhere!); do not give
information about a collar (40% of the pets we recover at
Petfinders are lost with a collar and are found with no collar
or a different one).
If you have a photo of your pet, try making one copy. If the
copy depicts your pet accurately, then use it. If not, then
using it can do more harm than good. You may want to consider
using a line drawing from a breed book at your local library
or bookstore instead. It often photocopies better than a photo.
Write the word REWARD on top of the flyer, in large print,
and your phone number on the bottom. Giving an amount of reward
will usually get you some crank calls from people who do not
have your pet, but it does attract more people to the flyer.
If you think your pet was stolen, do not indicate that because
the person a stolen pet is most often recovered from, had
nothing to do with theft, and you will scare them off. DO
NOT even say, "no questions asked."
Make
a list, using the yellow pages of all veterinarians, animal
hospitals, pet shops, grooming shops, and any other facilities
listed under pets. Combine the municipal section of the white
pages with the yellow pages to get a comprehensive list of
schools. Visit each facility, carry your own roll of masking
tape, and ask permission to hang up a flyer. Whenever possible,
do not leave it for them to do. One flyer put up in one veterinary
office, will be seen by 30 to 40 animal owners a day -- and
it is animal owners who take in strays. In the schools, post
the flyers where the children will be sure to see them. Children
are very good at spotting strayed pets (but horrible at catching
them). By the end of the first day, you should have posted
at least 200 flyers.
As you travel, look for community bulletin boards in shopping
centers, churches, synagogues, or anywhere else that you can
post a notice of general interest. Also put flyers on the
streets at busy intersections (you may want to check the legality
of posting on public property first).
Tomorrow
morning, at sunrise, go to the location your pet was lost
with a pen and pad. Write down the company name of services
making deliveries at that hour. Some examples are bread, milk
and newspaper delivery services. Call the dispatch offices
for those companies, give them a description of your pet and
ask that they alert their drivers. Most pets recovered while
still on the street, are found during the quiet early morning
hours and then hide when the tempo picks up. If possible,
follow up with a flyer.
After you have done a thorough job of hanging up the posters,,
follow up your earlier phone call with a visit to the municipal
shelter for your area. Go, even if the shelter tells you that
they do not have any animals fitting the description of yours
right now, or that they will call you if one comes in, or
even that they did not pick up any strays since your pet was
lost - you must visit the facility. If you do not visit the
shelter, you are jeopardizing the life of your pet.
Believe it or not, that is not all that needs to be done,
but it is what needs to be done now! Call us during our office
hours and we will answer any specific questions you may have,
make long-term search recommendations, explain to you what
Petfinders does in a search, and help you in any other way
that we can.
Don't
be discouraged! If you follow the suggestions we have given
you, there is every reason to believe that your pet will be
recovered. But it often takes time, and almost always takes
hard work and perseverance.
CALL
TODAY... 800 666-7878... Pet Club of America...
WE PROTECT AND FIND LOST PETS NATIONWIDE
A National Non-Profit Pet Finding Agency.
Protecting and finding pets since 1990.
Most
pets are recovered, it's important that you follow our recommendations
in the sequence they are presented.-DO NOT GIVE UP HOPE!
Then,
prepare a flyer giving only a physical description of your
pet. Do not give the name of the pet (it may not answer to
its name when it is lost and frightened); do not give any
behavioral information (behavior changes dramatically when
a pet is lost); do not give exact location lost (it is not
a question of how far your pet will travel on its own -- what
often happens is that people who find a stray take it to their
home quite a distance away, and then they either put it out
again or it gets out. Your pet can be anywhere!); do not give
information about a collar (40% of the pets we recover at
Petfinders are lost with a collar and are found with no collar
or a different one).
Make
a list, using the yellow pages of all veterinarians, animal
hospitals, pet shops, grooming shops, and any other facilities
listed under pets. Combine the municipal section of the white
pages with the yellow pages to get a comprehensive list of
schools. Visit each facility, carry your own roll of masking
tape, and ask permission to hang up a flyer. Whenever possible,
do not leave it for them to do. One flyer put up in one veterinary
office, will be seen by 30 to 40 animal owners a day -- and
it is animal owners who take in strays. In the schools, post
the flyers where the children will be sure to see them. Children
are very good at spotting strayed pets (but horrible at catching
them). By the end of the first day, you should have posted
at least 200 flyers.
CALL
TODAY... 800 666-7878... Pet Club of America...