FOUND PET RESOURCES

Thank you for helping this little one!

If you found a dog or cat, please take these steps to find the owner. The animal you found probably would love to get home, and someone is missing their pet. Please help reunite by being thorough, and by being patient. Please take the pet to a vet or Petsmart to have it scanned for microchip. If the pet has a microchip, the facility will guide you on how to proceed to reunite the pet with their owner.  

CALL the County shelter’s Lost & Found line to report the found pet: 602-372-4598 . There is an assistant to take the information who will take steps to post the found dog in some essential places. Found pets can also be posted on the MCACC website at https://gis.maricopa.gov/ACC/Stray/index.html (shows dogs and location picked up in the last 3 days) You may also check that link for lost dogs in the area where you found the dog. PLEASE provide a photo when requested (via email). Reports without photos are not as helpful and make it more difficult to match up found pets with missing pets.

If you find the pet in an HOA community, please contact your board and/or property management company and ask them to do an email blast to residents. Include the photo; require proof of ownership.

Sign up on https://nextdoor.com/news_feed. if you haven’t already, and post there. Please post in both the Lost & Found section and in the Pets section on Craigslist, please mention the actual date you found the animal and put “Found” in your ad title. Be sure to put the approximate location found as well as color and the breed if you know it. Please make sure it says “FOUND” in your ad title. Also check both sections daily for your pet. USE THIS LINK: https://phoenix.craigslist.org/ -post in Lost & Found and include a picture with your craigslist ads (but have any responders provide pictures or other proof of ownership– always be very cautious!). If the dog was wearing a collar or bandana, remove the item (when the dog is secure in the house) and then photograph the dog.

If someone contacts you to claim this pet, require responders to identify whatever the dog was wearing. Don’t indicate if the dog is male or female — REQUIRE THAT RESPONDERS identify the dog’s gender, age, weight, location. REQUIRE photos, and if you are still unsure if it’s a match, require vet records. Use the anonymous relay option on craigslist so that misleading parties do not have your direct contact info. All communication should go through the anonymous craigslist system until and unless you are positive the responder is the owner. Many volunteers watch lost & found pages and try to help reunite owners with their dogs. Pictures are a tremendous help for us so we can match up color markings that may help us identify. If you’re concerned about giving the dog’s identity away with the picture, photograph just the face and ask any responders to describe any special body or leg markings (or lack thereof), length of tail, etc. Request vet records as additional proof of ownership (these will reflect the dog’s breed, age, weight, color). If you can, please take the dog for multiple walks. Often the owners are out looking for their pet and you might bump into them. Make certain the dog is in a properly fitted secure harness and on a leash.

Putting up “found” posters in the area where found is also helpful. Print with bold and minimal lettering (FOUND DOG should take up the top half of the page). Print black & white on bright green card stock (available at any office supply store for approx. $17 for a ream of 250). Keep in mind it takes 20 minutes to walk a mile. If a dog walks even just 20 minutes three times a day, the dog could be six miles from home in two days. If you don’t connect with the owners within just a few days, expand your flyer area to 3-4-5 miles out.

Post on these four key facebook pages: – Lost Dogs of Arizona https://www.facebook.com/groups/LDOAZ – Lost Pets of Phoenix https://www.facebook.com/groups/517676471692366  – Phoenix lost and found dogs https://www.facebook.com/groups/288610391318896 -Straydar AZ https://www.facebook.com/groups/Straydar/  On the LOST DOGS ARIZONA facebook page, in the photos/albums section, check the albums “Missing” to see if the dog you found is posted in these albums.

Lastly, please do not re-home a dog too quickly (and never for free). Sometimes it takes a while for the owner to learn where to look. Please be patient so the dog you found can get back to its family. Remember … people who lose their dogs don’t stop looking and their hearts never heal. If you’ve found a dog, your patience and efforts are the second greatest gifts in the world you can give them. The first greatest gift will be the return of their dog <3