WHAT TO DO IF YOU LOST A PET

If you’ve just lost your pet, this is understandably a frightening moment for you. The best thing to do for you and your pet is to stay calm so you can stay focused. Follow these basic steps to maximize the chances that your pet is returned home safely and promptly.

CHECKLIST OF ACTION ITEMS

  • Walk around your neighborhood – remember to take a leash or carrier and a tasty treat
  • Make sure your pet’s microchip registration is up-to-date, and notify the registry that your pet is lost
  • If you’re not sure where your microchip is registered, check PetMicrochipLookup.org
  • Contact local shelters, rescues and veterinarians
  • Report lost pet on community sites such as Nextdoor, PawBoost, PetFBI, Finding Rover, Facebook, and PetHub
  • Create a Lost Pet Poster on bright paper and distribute it locally.
  • Notify your veterinarian
  • Locate important ownership paperwork

VIDEO TUTORIALS

LOOK UP A MICROCHIP WITH AAHA

With all the different companies, pet microchip registration can get pretty confusing. You can actually register any chip with any company, and we accept all brands of microchips. It’s totally fine to use multiple registries as long as you keep all the records up-to-date. U.S. registries don’t share info, so you just need to update each registry separately. The Michelson Found Animals Registry is 100% free for all pets.

Because we participate in the Universal Pet Microchip Lookup, any shelter or vet that finds your pet can check there to see if you’re registered – AVID’s actually the only registry that doesn’t work with that site. AAHA is a great resource because it does a live search of almost all registries at once. We recommend using it for every found pet, even if the chip looks familiar.

LOST PET SERVICES

There are many services who share our mission of reuniting you with your lost pet, including the following:
Pet FBI is a free service providing information and search engines to help find your lost pet.
Petco allows you to register your pet’s photo and find out if a found pet resembles yours.
Start free lost pet alerts to spread the word about your lost pet using PawBoost.
Keep your neighbors on the lookout for your lost pet.
Register your pet’s PetHub tab and send out alerts for free.

LOST PET PREVENTION: DOGISH PODCAST

Gina Knepp, expert in pet reunification, shares her top tips for lost pet prevention, including details on what to do if your pet is already lost.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST