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The following information may help you find your lost pet.

1. Do a thorough search of your property and surrounding neighbourhood. Look in sheds, under buildings, in parks especially along waterways - anywhere your animal could be trapped - and look inside ceilings for cats.

2.  Ask your neighbours and people you see out walking their dogs.

3.  Ask about females in season if your animal is male and entire.

4.  Do a letter drop and put notices up in your local shops. Include information such as a description and photo (if possible) of the animal and a contact phone number. Put the date lost on all notices.

5.  Ring all the local veterinary clinics and extend this outward. A person often picks up an animal and takes it to a clinic they know, not necessarily the closest one.

6.  Contact all Animal Shelters in your city. The shelters will record information about your pet and ring you if an animal fitting that description comes in. They need information on the area your pet was lost in, the breed and colour of your pet, its age, whether it was wearing a collar and/or ID. They will need contact numbers and names should the animal come to their shelter. They also record this information for found animals and can sometimes put owner and finder together.

7.  Contact your local Council and all Councils in the surrounding area.

8.  Visit each pound and check road depots (in case your animal has been killed on the road). Also find out if your council has an arrangement with a shelter to pick up stray animals, especially at night.

9.  Update your details if you have moved address since you registered your pet with your council or, if your pet is microchipped, the microchip record company. At this time notify them you have lost your pet.

10.  Advise your local police.

11.  Visit all shelters in your city. This is especially important for the bigger shelters such as the RSPCA. Sometimes the guess of breed or age is wrong. This is particularly important with cats, as they aren't as easily described.

12.  Advertise the loss of your pet in local newspaper and the big city dailies. Check all papers thoroughly. Look in all columns dealing with animals and the "Lost and Found".

13. Contact your local radio stations. Some will make free announcements however the best approach is to ask for help not demand an announcement.

14.  Contact your breed's association - often clubs have a "rescue service" set up to retrieve animals of their breed from public facilities and house them until either the original owner can be traced or a new home arranged.


Please note, thought should be given to how much private information is given on lost and found notices, either as paper flyers or on Internet sites such as Pet Alert, especially if a reward is offered. Unfortunately there have been reports of cruel hoaxes played on distressed pet owners looking for their pets. Keeping back an easily determined piece of information about your pet (such as one white paw or other obvious marking) may help identify your pet and a hoax from a genuine reply.

Please remove all posters from public property and inform all others that were aware of the search after the animal has been found, or after a reasonable amount of time has passed. This makes it easier for the next person who is looking for assistance.