[livingdustmops]

Step Seven -

VISIT your local Animal Control, humane societies, and animal shelters, including the ones in surrounding areas.


You must actually visit the animal control and humane shelters every day or two. It works well if several family members can take turns visiting the shelters.
Your description of your pet and their description rarely match. YOU MUST GO LOOK ! Be sure to check all areas of the shelter, including the infirmary. Also be aware that dogs may be housed in the cat section and vice-versa.
Leave a picture of your pet and your phone number at each shelter. Befriend the workers at the shelter, you get more bees with honey than you do with vinegar.
Find out the holding period of each animal control and humane shelter. Be aware of how much time you have to claim your pet before it is euthanized!
Government Animal Control agencies usually keep an animal for only 3 - 4 days and then they either adopt it out or kill it. You only get one chance at this. Be there!


Step Eight -
Ask Animal Control, humane societies, and shelters about pet rescue organizations in your area.


Usually there are many small pet rescue groups that work with the local humane shelter. They often take pets from the shelter to save them from euthanasia and adopt them out to new homes.
Call the rescue groups regularly to see if they have your pet. Ask to visit their foster homes so that you can check for your pet in person.


Step Nine -
Find out if your pet has been killed on the road. (D.O.A reports are usually available at the Animal Shelter front desks)


This is a very sad but necessary task. Otherwise, you may never know what happened to your pet and it could haunt you for years.
The road crews for your local and state Department of Transportation ( CALTRANS ) will usually pick up dead animals from the highways and freeways. The Animal Control Department is usually responsible for roads and city streets. You have to call around and find out which agencies do this service in your area. Be sure to find them all!
Dogs are usually picked up within 24 hours, but cats and other animals often are not.
Call the city, county, and state road crews, CALTRANS , and Animal Control EVERY DAY to see if they have found your pet's body. The Animal Services Department will usually have a DOA list available for public viewing, if so, you can check while your visiting the shelter to look for your pet.
If any of them do not cooperate with your efforts, contact City Hall as a last resort and complain. This usually gets a response. But remember, you will get better results with courteous personal visits.
If your pet is wearing an ID tag, the DOT and/or Animal Control agencies should contact you if they find your pet dead along the road. But don't count on it. You must put forth the effort to find out for yourself!
Sadly, this section has a higher "find" rate than anything else except posted flyers.


Step Ten -
It is extremely important to post as MANY flyers as you can about your lost pet.


From the point where your pet was last seen, place your posters within:
a 6-mile radius for cats
a 20-mile radius for dogs
If you receive a call from someone stating that they saw your pet near their home or business. It will be extremely difficult to physically "hang around" this person's house or place of business, however you do have other options. You can send your flyers directly to homes and/or businesses via the US Postal Service. This can be costly but it could provide you with more sighting information. Here's how you go about this process.
You will need to have at least 500 flyers for each area that you decide to do a "mailing" except they do not have to be color flyers, black and white will suffice for this purpose. To save sometime, have the printer or copying service tri-fold the flyers for you, this costs about 3 cents per copy. Title companies generally maintain current lists of the names and addresses of each homeowner in each housing subdivision in your city or town. You can purchase these subdivision databases for a minimal fee of about twenty dollars per subdivision. Call the local title companies in your town and ask if you can purchase the database for "Country Meadows Estates" or whatever the name is of the subdivision where the sighting of your pet occurred. Ask them to send the database via email. This way you should be able to convert or transfer the information into one of your database programs on your computer, such as Excel. Using the database program on your computer you should be able to print mailing labels for each homeowner in that particular subdivision. If you don't want to generate the labels yourself, the Title companies can provide you with mailing labels but the there is an added cost for this service. Affix the labels to your flyers and check with your Post Office for the proper method of sealing the flyers. Do not send your flyers "Bulk Mail" as many post offices only send out Bulk Mail at specific times of the month. Time is of the essence and you cannot risk waiting for your flyers to be delivered on Bulk Mail delivery days.
Overall, flyers or posters produce more "finds" than anything else. But don't neglect the rest of the tips!
Your budget will determine how many flyers you can afford to post, but the more the better.

Step Eleven - HERE IS THE TYPE OF INFORMATION THAT SHOULD and SHOULD 'NOT' BE ON YOUR FLYER


If possible, it is best to place a color photo of your pet on each flyer.
Use 8-1/2" X 11" fluorescent paper for high visibility.
List the date and place your pet was lost, breed of dog or cat, sex, age, weight, color, markings, and your telephone number.
Offer a reward , but don't state the amount.
Do not put your full name or address on the flyer, just your phone number.
It is very important to always withhold several identifying marks and characteristics of your lost pet. You may need to use these later to verify that a person has actually found your pet and is not trying to scam you. More on this later.
Post the flyers on telephone or street light poles, at a level as far above your head as possible, as there are those that find it amusing to destroy posters of this type. By placing the posters as high as possible you will most likely discourage anyone from attempting to destroy your poster. Take a small step stool or ladder with you when you are placing the posters on telephone and light poles. If it is during the winter or rainy season, put your posters in "top loading plastic pages", however, you will want the opening to be at the bottom. This way you can prevent (AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE) the ink from running due to the moisture in the air. Be sure to use wide clear tape. Packing tape works very well and it is stickier than most other tapes. Tape all four sides of the poster, such that someone cannot simply stick a finger or a stick under an edge of your poster and rip it down. Taking these extra measures when posting your flyer will give your poster a much better chance of remaining in its spot for an adequate length of time. If anyone thinks about ripping down your poster they are going to have to through as much effort to take it down as you did putting it up. All other posters can be placed at eye level, such places as veterinary offices, pet shops, barber & beauty shops, grocery stores, community bulletin boards, churches, pizza parlors, laundromats, convenience stores, near schools, and on school bulletin boards.
Examine your posted flyers frequently and replace the ones that are missing or damaged.



Step Twelve - Place an Ad in your local newspaper and/or an Internet Lost and Found web site. Some will do this for free, but most of the time those that are placing Lost Ads have to pay. It is generally only free to those that are placing Found Ads. (Except here at this web site where it is free to all who use it)


Be sure to advertise in the Sunday edition as well as during the week.
Also place an ad in any "Penny Saver" type of publications you might have in your area.
Check the Lost and Found section of the newspaper everyday.
Most newspapers provide free ads to people who have found lost pets.
Also check regularly in any other local publications.
Don't ever give up! Pets have been known to find their way back home after being lost for several months. Good luck!

A Few Words Of Caution
There are dangerous people in our society who prey upon victims by using "found" pets as a ploy.
NEVER respond to a "found" pet contact alone. Take a friend or two along with you.
Arrange to meet in a public place.
NEVER invite the person to your home unless you happen to know them well.


Beware of money scams. A common one is a person calls you claiming to be a long-haul trucker. He says he picked up your pet and is out of state now. He heard about your ad, flyer, etc. and says he will return your pet if you will pay to ship it home. This person does not have your pet, he is only trying to take your money. Don't wander around looking for your pet alone, either during the day or at night. Always bring a friend or relative. This is especially important in unfamiliar neighborhoods. Use the identifying information you have withheld about your pet. Please remember that you should never give out all of the identifying features of your lost pet. If the person who claims to have found your pet cannot describe these features to you, they do not have your pet!