What can I do if I’ve lost my pet?
Double-check your home & garden:
- Check inside your home, garden, amongst bushes, and in and around vehicles.
- Think about your pet’s size – what is at their level they could be hiding in or under? Cats especially can fit into even the tiniest of gaps and spaces!
- Don’t forget to grab a torch and check underneath your house, decks, sheds, and other dark spots.
- Hot Tip: your pets’ eyes are reflective to light!
- Don’t forget to look up high for cats – trees, shelving, inside or on your roof – they may have jumped up there at some point and no longer feel safe to come down.
Check-in with your neighbours:
- Have they seen your pet? Would they mind if you searched their property?
- Try as many homes in your street as possible in every direction.
Search the area:
- Head out on foot and in the car.
- Search within a 20km radius of your home / the area where your pet was last seen.
- Make sure you take a lead / cat trap with you in case you find them.
- Bring any favourite squeaky toys / treats to help lure your pet out.
Get the word out:
Spreading the word to friends, family and the local community is the best way to make people aware that your pet is missing and get them to join you in your search.
- Advertise by using posters, flyers, and social media!
- Please include a clear photo of your pet, your contact details and any other information that could be useful, such as the date and area your pet went missing or any unique features that could help people recognize them.
- Distribute fliers to your neighbours and drop them in letterboxes around your neighbourhood / the area where your pet went missing
- Put posters up at your local shops, animal shelters, vet clinics and on street poles in the area where your pet went missing.
- Keep info short and sweet – If people are driving past, they’ll only have 5 seconds to read it!
- Note: Always check with your Council regarding laws on displaying community posters.
- Get social and share posts on any platform you’re a part of
- Encourage your network to share them with their friends and family
- Find your local Lost and Found Community Pages and list your lost pet there as well.
Need some help?
Feeling overwhelmed and want a quick and easy poster to use? Try this A4 template from G2Z
All you have to do is type in the details required, upload a photo, and hit submit, and you’ll be emailed a finished poster in seconds!
Contact your local vets, shelters & councils:
- The very first day your pet goes missing, contact your local council, shelters, pounds and vet clinics and provide them with a detailed description of your pet as well as your contact details.
- Remember:
- A concerned member of the public won’t always live locally to you and may have taken your pet to their local clinic / shelter.
- Even if your pet was taken somewhere local to begin with – stray animals usually need to be held at a council pound facility or Animal Welfare facility, which may not be close by.
- Ask your council where the pound-holding facility is for your area.
- Pounds and shelters are legally required to hold a healthy stray animal for eight days, so don’t just visit / call once; do it regularly, as your pet may have been brought in days or weeks later.
Update your pet’s Microchip Details:
- When a lost pet finds their way to a shelter, pound or vet clinic, the very first thing we do is scan them for a microchip.
- Ensuring your details are up to date is the fastest way to ensure your pet finds their way home to you if they end up lost.
- You can check / update your details by contacting with your pet’s registered microchip company.
- Note: You can also register your pet as missing on their microchip here!
- To find out which microchip registry your pet is listed on, visit Pet Address and search for your pet’s microchip number.
- If you’re unsure of their microchip number, call your vet, as they should have the details in your pet’s medical history.
Repeat!
- Keep on searching, continue calling to check in on everyone you’ve contacted to see if there are any updates, check in on your neighbours to see if they’ve had any sightings, and repost your flyers, posters, and posts on social media!
- The fresher your attempts are, the fresher your pet is in the minds of those searching for them!
- Don’t lose hope, and don’t give up!
When your pet is found:
- Once you’ve taken some time to enjoy your reunion, don’t forget to contact your neighbours, vet clinics, council, shelters, pounds, businesses, etc and let them know the happy news!
- Take down your posters and update your posts on social media to let people know your pet is home!
- If you registered them as missing on their microchip, don’t forget to update this again!
