This information may help you locate your missing pet, or if you have found a pet, provide resources for locating its owner.The Pet Action League provides excellent instructions for finding your lost dog or cat: http://www.petrescue.com/pal/notes/find.htm
Sherlock Bones is a professional Bay Area pet search company (since 1974) that sends out photo postcards of your pet (scan a photo at Kinko's) with a description to 500/1000 neighbors, local vets, and shelters (within a 30 mile radius). There is a reasonable charge for the postcard preparation and mailing. Check the Sherlock Bones web site or call 800.942.6637 for details.National Pet Recovery and Registration. 800.984.8638. Employs pet detectives and targeted mailings to vets, kennels, groomers, breeders, medical research labs, police agencies, humane societies, animal control facilities, and pet food stores in a 4- to 8-county search.
Santa Cruz Area. National Center For Missing Pets. Tips on finding lost pets. Forensic applications to missing pet investigations. Pet search (with tracking dogs) and rescue. Kathy "Kat" Albrecht, Executive Director.408.448.6747
When your pet is missing, begin searching immediately and use all available resources:
First search your neighborhood, calling the pet's name, and get to know your neighbors by knocking on doors to find out if they have seen your pet.
In case your pet is nearby, try making any noise that brings your pet running to you, such as opening a can of pet food. Positioning a mirror so a parrot could see its own image brought one escaped bird out of the trees. Cats tend to enter open doors (probably the way they became domesticated) and may be locked in storage structures or garages.
Register the missing pet with these local agencies (and, if possible, provide a photo):
BERKELEY. The City of Berkeley Shelter.2013 - 2nd Street.510. 644.6755.
CONTRA COSTA COUNTY
Shelter located in Martinez. 925.798.1773. You need to go there in person, although you may be able to talk to one of the volunteers who works with the animals in the shelter.
PALO ALTO
- City of Palo Alto Animal Services, Lost and Found Pet Information, 3281 East Bayshore Road, Palo Alto. (Also covers Mountain View, Los Altos, and Lost Altos Hills). Lost and found listing service and animal shelter for Palo Alto. 650.496.5971. Open Monday through Saturday 11 - 5:30. They keep an animal seven days before destroying it. Check in person every other day.
- Police Dispatch (Animal Control Officer) 650.329.2413. Register your pet as missing.
- Palo Alto Humane Society, 415 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto. Lost and found listing (not a shelter). Community education. 650.327.0631.
S.F. PENINSULA
- Peninsula Humane Society, 12 Airport Blvd., San Mateo. Lost and found listing service and shelter for the northern Peninsula. Call for instructions (they are on the road to the left of the entrance to Coyote Point recreation area). 650.340.8200.
REDWOOD CITY
- Pets In Need, 873 5th Ave., Redwood City. Lost and found listing service. 650.367.1405.
SANTA CRUZ
The Santa Cruz Humane Society, 2200 7th Ave., Santa Cruz has a Lost Pet Hotline: 408.462.5678. The shelter is open from noon to 5:30 Tuesday through Sunday (call 408.475.6454 to verify. Email address: scspca@pacbell.net.
FREMONT, NEWARK, UNION CITY
See the Ohlone Humane Society Web page.
There is a software program that is being used to track animals at local shelters. See the PetNet home page.
(If you live outside of these areas, check your local Yellow Pages, city directory, information.)Find out when you can visit the shelters to check if your pet has been turned in, and return as often as possible. A lost pet may be turned in to one of the shelters without having been identified as your pet (the picture or description may not sufficient).
Create a poster. Make it short, simple, and the headline (Missing Dog, Cat, Parrot) readable from as far away as possible. Use only key words such Lost or Found, the kind of animal, breed, brief description, date lost, and your phone number. Include a color photo, if possible. You can use a black marker to create a master copy of this poster and take it your local copy service for duplication if you don't have access to a computer and printer.
Remember that most people will just catch the key words, but may return for more information later.
Plaster the poster far and wide (don't forget laundrymats, grocery store bulletin boards, and kiosks used to post neighborhood news).
Mail the poster to local veterinarians and animal hospitals. Your pet may have been injured and brought to a vet. Check the listings for vets and veterinarian hospitals in the yellow pages.
Place an ad in your local newspapers. These Palo Alto papers provide free listing for lost and found pets:Palo Alto Daily News 650.327.6397 Palo Alto Weekly 650.326.8216List your pet with this Web page.
For tips on finding pets after a disaster, visit the
Marin Humane Society Web site.