Lost & Found Pets: Helping Bring Pets Back Home
Handling a lost or found pet requires quick and thoughtful action. Below are practical steps to help reunite lost pets with their owners and guidance on safely caring for a stray animal.
Caring Hands Animal Hospital Recommends These Steps if Your Pet is Lost:
- Create a Poster: Use this template to design a flyer with your pet’s details.
- Post Around the Neighborhood: Display posters in high-traffic locations like intersections, grocery stores, coffee shops, gas stations, libraries, drugstores, and schools. Additionally, email the flyer to neighbors, neighborhood watch groups, leasing offices, and homeowners associations.
- Notify Local Shelters & Veterinary Clinics Send the poster to all nearby animal shelters and vet clinics. Use this list of shelters as a reference.
- Visit Shelters in Person: Don’t rely solely on phone calls—shelters are often busy, and staff may not immediately recognize your pet. Visiting in person and checking recently found pets improves your chances of a reunion.
Prevention Tip:
Microchipping is a reliable way to ensure your pet can be identified and safely returned home. While collars and ID tags can be lost, a microchip provides a permanent connection to your contact information. Schedule a microchipping appointment at Caring Hands Animal Hospital during your pet’s next wellness visit. Learn more about microchipping here.
Found a Pet? Caring Hands Animal Hospital Recommends:
Step 1 - Use Caution!
When handling an unfamiliar pet, be cautious, as animals can carry zoonotic diseases like rabies. Wash your hands thoroughly and keep them separated from your pets to prevent disease transmission.
Frightened animals may act aggressively and could bite or scratch. If you're unsure about handling them safely, contact Animal Control for assistance.
- Fairfax County Animal Control: 703.691.2131
- Prince William County Animal Control: 703.792.6465
- Arlington Animal Control: 703.931.9241
- Alexandria Animal Control: 703.746.4774
Next Steps
Check for a Collar:
Look for an ID tag with the owner’s contact information. If the pet has a rabies tag, call the phone number on it—this will connect you to the veterinary office that administered the vaccine. They can identify the pet using the tag number.
Take the Pet to a Shelter or Vet Clinic:
If there’s no ID tag, visit a local animal shelter or veterinary clinic. They can scan for a microchip and help reunite the pet with their owner.
If No ID or Microchip is Found:
- Create a “Found Pet” poster and place it in the area where the pet was found. Use this template to make your poster.
- Notify local shelters and veterinary clinics.
Notify local shelters and veterinary hospitals. Use this template to create your poster.
- Upload information and photos to websites dedicated to reuniting pets with their owners:
Have questions about wildlife? Click here!