Managing your lost pet search

Personally, I recommend a shotgun approach where you try several different resources in the hopes that if one misses, another will work. First, when you are missing your pet you realize the world is a pretty big place. Initially, try to narrow down the areas you are going to focus on. Prioritize your search. To do this, consider the following general questions.

• What were the circumstances when your pet was lost?
• What is your pet's personality like?
• What is your pet's health like?
• Is your pet lost in a familiar environment?
• What have you done to find your pet so far?

Here is another painful truth: you need a budget when planning resources. Too many times people will spend anything in the heat of the moment. Some resources are painfully expensive and do not necessarily deliver much more than a list of instructions.

When you are taking sighting calls or speaking with people who may have seen your pet consider keeping a call log. You can also use a blog entry on this site to record this information. Get the persons name, contact information, time of day your pet was seen, and location. It will help if you have a master map you can plot that information on to help you visualize where the sightings are coming from and when so you can focus on those areas. Again, your map on this site may be used for this purpose.

Try to avoid leading information from people by asking open-ended questions. For example, what was the dog wearing if anything?” as opposed to “Was he wearing a purple collar?” The person reporting the sighting may not have noticed. That is OK If they reply red instead of purple they still may be right, but if they say he had a purple collar you are ahead of the game. If you are getting sightings of another stray animal that looks like yours but is not yours try to catch and safely remove that animal from the area. If the sightings suddenly stop you can suspect it was not your pet that people were seeing.

There are no hard and fast rules. We had a chow case where there were sightings of two other chow type dogs that were not the right dog. A pet detection colleague of mine once had three simultaneous searches for three similar looking Sheltie dogs in one neighborhood. The point is, until you have your pet home again you just do not know. I have had two cases of people catching and taking home the wrong cat thinking it was theirs. We have had several cases where similar looking pets were missing in the same area at the same time. This can be a particularly frustrating part of lost pet recovery for the owners.

Tools and Resources

Detection Dog
A properly trained pet detection search dog may be used to help locate lost pets. But even properly trained dogs may not bring your lost pet home with a “walk up find”. However, they can be used to provide several types of information that may be useful for you:

1. Your pet's direction of travel
2. Confirmation of sightings
3. A specific area in which your pet may be hiding

Posters
Large yard sale type signs made on colorful posterboard and placed at significant intersections may have a very large impact on your success. Posters are designed to get the message about the missing pet to as many people as possible. The key to a good poster is that the information is minimal and that the phone number can be read from inside a stopped car. (Make sure you are not breaking any local laws when posting!)

In my experience, posters and fliers are one of the most efficient resources when attempting to locate and recover lost pets. The goal is to reach large numbers of commuters. Posters must be BIG and bright: use a poster board cut in half and stenciled with 2″ or 3″ letters and numbers. Unless the reward is unusually large, just list "reward" and don’t put a specific amount.

The trailing dog and your sightings will help you target areas for posters. Generally, they are best placed on busy street corners to get the message to as many commuters as possible. Posters are especially useful when you are looking for a dog or animal that is physically able to cover a lot of ground in a hurry. The posters will allow you to get your message to many people in a short amount of time. BE SURE TO REMOVE ANY POSTERS AND FLIERS ONCE YOUR PET IS HOME AGAIN. Many people are running into a problem with neighbors removing the fliers and posters because they are frustrated with paper and plastic turning into litter months later.

Fliers
Fliers usually 81/2 X 11 size they may be black and white or color. Fliers are for passing out door to door in high probability areas and making sure everyone is aware of your missing pet. Also, fliers are what we generally use when shop owners allow us to post in their windows. (Make sure you are not breaking any local laws when handing out fliers.) Fliers are a quick easy resource they are frequently VERY useful in getting the message out that you are looking for your lost pet. Use them where there is a lot of pedestrian traffic. Many stores and shops will let you post them in the window. Some people use them to go door to door and notify every household in a given neighborhood. Displaced cats and animals that have a very defined area that they may be in based on limited mobility or specific personality characteristics will often be located through the use of fliers.

When the posters generate a sighting in a particular area, fliers are a good technique to generate additional information and sightings. They are relatively inexpensive and can be printed in a hurry they are easy to transport and pass out. When posting fliers in an outdoor area, it is advisable to put them in plastic sleeve protectors that are turned upside down so that the fliers are not damaged in the rain.

Consider making fliers with more detailed information if you are handing them to people but some with bigger and fewer words for posting near pedestrian traffic areas. BE SURE TO REMOVE ANY POSTERS AND FLIERS ONCE YOUR PET IS HOME AGAIN. If necessary, swap out old posters with new ones that say still lost or still missing or recent sighting in this area or something along those lines.

Cards
Some organizations or individuals hand out postcard or business-sized cards to people they meet on foot when searching in highly populated areas. This is helpful if you have a lot of volunteers. I have seen rescue organizations that have used this technique very successfully by passing handfuls of cards to the helpers disseminating around neighborhoods.

Word of mouth sightings
It is not unusual for local people to see pet detection dogs working and ask what we are doing. Sometimes these people will recall having seen the missing pet. Your average person is not actively looking at animals in the neighborhood and then looking for lost pet signs. Ask everyone you see if they have seen an animal that looks like your pet. One technique that may be employed with searches having an abundance of volunteers was sending helpers out to parks and busy areas and just have them ask if the animal had been seen and give anyone interested a card with the information on it.

Newspaper advertisements and / or articles
Don’t forget the small local papers as well as the larger ones.

Newsletters
Consider posting your announcement with local clubs or churches particularly outdoor clubs where the participants may see your missing pet.

Delivery people, landscapers, and construction workers
Because these people are outside and around the neighborhood they may be more likely to see your pet. Mail and newspaper carriers are usually traveling very early in the morning and may see an animal that is hiding during the busy part of the day but traveling when the traffic is quieter.

Children
I have always considered children a good resource because they are outside, and often tend to take notice of animals in the neighborhood. (Although I would be dating myself to suggest that children are not outside playing in packs like we did when I grew up. The times are changing and many of today’s entertainment options are inside games these days.) One teacher client cautioned me that many children are conditioned to give the answer they think adults want to hear. I tell people do not discount the information you get from young children but try to find some other source to support it.

Wildlife motion detection cameras
These may be placed in likely areas where your pet may be. For example, photographing cats at feral cat feeding stations. We have also had clients use this successfully at feeding stations when they were sure cats were eating the food but not sure if it was their own cat. This is useful particularly when the owner lives a distance away from the location where the pet was lost or from the area where it was sighted. You need to use good judgement when trapping animals if the weather is hot, cold, or wet. Do not leave traps unattended. If the neighborhood is not safe for the animal, do not leave your trap unattended. In this case, think twice before staying in it to attempt to trap the animal. Consider trying to lure your pet to a safer area instead.

Technology
Finally, consider the long reach of technology and the internet. People using cellphone cameras may capture pictures of your dog and post them on the internet. Or they may feel comfortable text messaging sightings while on the way to work. Make it easy for them to do so by advertising on the internet or providing a web address that is memorable and easy for them to find.