What to do if you LOSE 
your dog or cat

• Start searching for your lost pet immediately in and around your home (to make sure they are not hiding) and in your neighborhood. Ask family members and neighbors questions about when they saw the pet last, etc.

• Depending on your dog or cat’s personality, they may be hiding closer to home than you think. Indoor-only cats usually don’t travel too far but may be hiding and not come out when you call, and gregarious dogs who love people will not travel as far as those weary of strangers or who have fearful (xenophobic) personalities; these guys and gals can run miles away from home and truly get lost.

• Create flyers and big posters to put up around your area (though local ordinances may prohibit this). One alternative is to use your car’s back windshield for this signage with washable window markers you can get at Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, etc.  Other options are to use the shared mail boxes in newer neighborhoods or asking property owners if you can put up a sign in their corner yard, etc.

• Big posters with basic information should be posted anywhere cars traveling in the area can read them from inside their cars as they drive by. You can also create smaller, detailed flyers with the pet’s name, and offer a reward if you can afford it. Tape flyer copies to the bigger posters and use a message as follows on the bigger posters and your car windshield:

LOST CAT
Yellow Tabby
REWARD
555-5555

• Check your local shelter(s) daily (in person) for at least one week, and fill out a LOST report with them. Be persistent because some animals can hide a long time, be picked up and kept by people for some time, or travel far distances. It is a good idea to keep checking back at your shelter at least a few times a week for the first few weeks and then at least once a week for up to three or more months, keeping in mind that animals that come in as "strays" with no ID are held only 72 hours and those wearing ID or chipped are held no more than 5 days.
• Check the FOUND reports at the shelter, in all the newspaper classified ads, and on the online postings at www.hssnm.org, our Animals in Need page, and www.dogcruces.com; submit your lost reports to these online sources as well.
• Free classified ads are offered by most newspapers for lost and found animals for up to a week, so call the Las Cruces Sun-News (541- 5400), The Bulletin (524-8061), and American Classifieds (527-3463) to ask them to run a free ad; American Classifieds will also post it at www.dogcruces.com.
• Keep an eye out for flyers posted at vet offices, pet supply stores, other pet-related businesses, and the newspaper ads featuring adoptable pets. Check online pet adoption sites, such as www.petango.com, www.petfinder.com, etc., where your pet could end up being listed if they were put through an adoption system vs. being put down.
• Consider hiring a professionally-trained pet detective. A Missing Animal Response technician is available in our area. That contact information is as follows:
  Renee Waskiewicz • 575-312-1741 • Xldogs@zianet.com.

For more information and great online tips on lost pets and missing pet behavior and examples of painted back windshields, visit the Missing Pet Partnership.

What to do if you FIND
a dog or cat

• Hold onto the animal for as long as you can to look for the owner; assume the animal is lost, not a stray. Caring humans assume the worst and fill in blanks with negative stories, but the truth is the cat or dog may have a family who loves and misses him/her dearly, as you would if your beloved pet was lost.  No matter the condition you find the animal in and even if they are acting skittish/scared, it could be that the animal has been lost for a while or has traveled a long distance, and it is not necessarily a reflection of a bad owner. Many animals also show skittish characteristics outside of their comfort zones.
• Look for ID tags or see if a dog “leads” you to his/her home.  Have the animal scanned for a microchip at a local vet office or atr the animal shelter.
• Immediately fill out a FOUND report at the local animal shelter and check their LOST reports; if possible, take a picture to place with the report at the shelter.  Most people know to check the animal shelter first.
• If you must leave the animal off at our animal shelter, please do so during regular business hours; DO NOT use the outdoor, overnight cages left for owner-relinquished animals.  The shelter's normal hours are 12 to 6 p.m. weekdays and 12 to 5 p.m. on Sat. and Sun.  The shelter needs to know the animal was found so they are obligated to hold onto them for at least 72 hours, giving the owner time to reclaim their pet.  If you leave off a found animal in the outdoor cages without talking to staff, they assume the animal was abandoned by the owner, and they can legally and immediately kill that animal, which does happen frequently.
• Free classified ads are offered by most newspapers for lost and found animals, so call the Las Cruces Sun-News (541-5400), The Bulletin (524-8061), and American Classifieds (527-3463) to ask them to run a free ad; American Classifieds will post it also at www.dogcruces.com.
• Check the LOST reports online at www.hssnm.org, www.dogcruces.com, and on our Animals in Need page, and report your lost pet to both organizations.
• Put up a few big, bright posters at key locations where the dog was found, preferably on poles near stop signs or traffic lights (though local ordinances may prohibit this).  You may also be able to put up flyers at shared post office boxes in newer neighborhoods or in a property owner's yard. Another alternative is to use your car’s back windshield for this signage with washable window markers you can get at Wal-Mart, Hobby Lobby, etc. The poster should be readable from the street by passing cars, but you can also paste a detailed flyer to it if you wish and post those around the area you found the animal, too. Sample words for the big poster are as follows:

FOUND DOG
Black Lab Mix
555-5555

• If the owner does not claim the lost animal, consider trying to find the dog or cat a new home yourself if you can hold onto and care for the animal in the meantime.  If you do this, advertise the dog or cat using flyers and the newspaper to those that are a good lifestyle match for the animal, such as at gyms where people work out if you are trying to place an active, young dog.  You can also send the information about the animal, along with a picture, to www.hssnm.org and to us for posting on our websites; e-mail to us at actionprogramsforanimals@
  yahoo.com.

For more information and great online tips on reuniting pets with their family, visit the Missing Pet Partnership.