What to do If Your Pet is Lost

Unfortunately, accidents happen and our little fur-babies become lost. We’d like to provide some advice on how best to handle the situation.

Paperwork and microchip info

First thing to do is locate their paperwork and have their microchip number on hand. If you’re in Toronto, report the missing animal to 416-338-PAWS (7297) and 311 to file a lost animal report. Other municipalities should have a system in place; try googling your local Animal Services. Provide them with an accurate physical description and if possible a clear photo. Continue to call daily or every other day especially if your pet does not have a microchip.

Check local shelters

Check local shelters or Animal Services for listings of strays or found pets. Municipal (city-run) shelters have a stray hold of 3-5 days after which the animal is put up for adoption, if healthy and friendly. You can see the most recent animals brought to Toronto Animal Services as “stray” or lost here. And while it might be scary, you should also view the deceased animals report. At the very least this can provide closure.

Create a neighbourhood poster

Visit Helping Lost Pets, which is a free website that will help you create a poster. When creating your poster here are some tips to remember:

• Provide the best quality and clear photo of the pet. 
• Your cat should be front-facing
• The photo should include the cat’s entire body, especially any distinguishing marks
• Provide the most immediate intersection. Not the major intersection but the closest to where the pet was lost. 
• Ask sighters to text a picture of the cat they see—this will help eliminate confusion, e.g. is that brown tabby mine or the neighbour’s outdoor cat?
• Use a contact method that goes directly to you (cell phone is best)
• Provide the date the pet went missing

Once the poster is complete, share it on your social media and ask friends and family to share it as well. You want as many eyes to see your lost baby as possible. Also, you never know who might be a friend of a friend of your neighbour who walks the neighbourhood frequently or feeds local feral cats.

Print many copies of the poster and post them on all telephone/hydro poles within the surrounding area of where your pet went missing. It’s best to use clear packing tape or clear plastic wrap to keep the poster from getting damaged due to rain. Place a poster in each of your neighbour’s mailboxes, on windshields of parked cars and speak with neighbours if possible so that they know to keep an eye out.

If your pet is confident and will approach strangers, they may have been taken in by a kind person concerned for their safety. Please consider that your pet may be outgoing in your home but in an unfamiliar environment, they are likely scared and hiding.

Speak to local vets offices including your own and ask if they can display the lost poster. Often when someone finds a pet they will have it scanned at a vet for a microchip. This is something vets will do for free. Put the poster up in local cafes or public spaces like a library and/or community school.

Search the neighbourhood

Ask neighbours if you can look in their backyards. Make yards with lots of shrubbery a priority. Check under decks, in bushes, in sheds or any other hidden away and “quiet” place. Timid pets will seek a safe, dark place to hide. The best time to search for them is dusk and dawn. Take a flashlight and shine it under cars, bushes, etc looking for the tell-tale “glowing eyes”.

If your pet is not normally confident with strangers, they are not going to seek help from people. Please advise neighbours not to call out or chase the pet. The best bet to safely secure your pet is to locate where it is with sightings. It is important you get as much detail as you can when there is a sighting. Exact location, the direction they were going in, the time of day of the sighting etc. 

You may need to trap your pet. Eventually they will become hungry and the best way to secure them is to appeal to their stomachs. Once you’ve established where your pet is you can devise a plan of trapping them. Find someone knowledgeable -  i.e.people in rescue/TNR programs. For information on humane cat traps check out https://www.feralcatrecoverycentre.com/trap-rental.html

Once you have your pet safe and secure, it’s best to take them to the vet for an exam. You’ll want to look for wounds, fleas, ticks etc. They may have picked up a parasite from puddle water and if they’ve been lost for a long time and haven’t eaten, they may require more immediate treatment. Do not allow them to gorge on food for their first meal back. Provide small portions of food and water and gradually increase portions for the first day.

We hope you never have to use this advice but if you do, we wish you luck.