Lost & Found Pet Tips

Below are several tried and true tips from the folks at Missing Mutt Detectives. Follow each step exactly if you have lost or found a pet.

Remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Put padlocks on all gates. Put harnesses and Martingale collars on dogs when on leash. Newly adopted dogs should be kept ON LEASH in the backyard for at least 2 weeks after adoption, until that pet has bonded with you – and NO WALKS / TRIPS outside your yard for at least two weeks.

It is ILLEGAL to rehome, sell, or give away a pet that does not belong to you. Rescue organizations cannot take stray animals. They must go to a shelter to give the owner a chance to find them!

Lose a Pet? Missing Mutt Detectives suggests the following tips:

Turn in a LOST report to local Police Dept., Animal Control and shelters.
Make a Craigslist ad in “lost and found” and also in “pets.”
Post on the NextDoor app.
Post on any and all applicable social media sites.
Post on PawBoost, PetHarbor, FindMyDoggie, Pet Amber Alert, Pet Finder etc.
Report your pet missing to local vets
Drop off a flyer at local vets, Petsmart, Starbucks, local grocery stores, libraries and other business in your area that have community bulletin boards in upside down page protectors, with duct tape. This will protect against our weather.
Create scent stations, so your pet can find his own way home. (Reach out to Missing Mutt Detectives if you need further direction on this.).
Hang neon poster board signs on main roads and intersections with simple verbiage. Ex. LOST DOG, “Do NOT chase” or “REWARD”
Call with sightings (phone number)
If chipped, make sure the chip is updated with current information.
Post on Colorado Lost & Found Pets:
https://www.facebook.com/coloradolostfoundpets/

Once you have created a flyer through “CO Lost & Found Pets” please share it on local social media pages/groups.

These suggestions are tried and true. Don’t give up and try to stay positive.

As far as the flyers:

Not everyone is on social media and you need to get sightings reported FAST! More posted signs = more sightings.

Use the Colorado Lost & Found Pets full page flyer
Print in color
Put them in upside down page protectors to protect against the weather.
Only use duct tape. Fluorescent is best.

Signs can be put on:

Street lights
Lamp posts
Group mailboxes
Pet Stores
Vet’s offices
Groomers
Staked to the ground

Do not put them on anything you can get a moving violation for (stop signs, MPR signs, crosswalk signs) or on Individual mailboxes!

Your vehicle is a mobile advertisement, use it!!

Make a map to date/time stamp sightings.

Find a pet? Missing Mutt Detectives suggest the following tips:

Turn in a FOUND report to local Police Dept., Animal Control and the shelters.
Keep the pet safe with you, or turn in to the local shelter closest to where the animal was found.
DO NOT SELL, REHOME, OR GIVE AWAY THE PET. THIS IS ILLEGAL!
Make a Craigslist ad in “lost and found” and also in “pets”.
Post on NextDoor, pet harbor, and pawboost.
Take to a vet or PetSmart to scan for a microchip.
Ask for proof of ownership for anyone claiming the pet, (photos, vet records, etc).
Create a flyer on Colorado Lost & Found Pets and use the link to post on social media.

https://www.facebook.com/coloradolostfoundpets/

Once the flyer is created share the link all over social media, especially to neighborhood and surrounding groups as well as to Missing Mutt Detectives:

https://www.facebook.com/Missing-Mutt-Detectives-

Print Colorado Lost & Found Pets flyers (8×10) in color with a current picture. Put the flyer in an upside down page protector, with bright colored duct tape. This will protect against our weather.

Metro Area Animal Shelters

If you have lost a pet, do your due diligence and go IN-PERSON to every area animal shelter. Often times a pet might be picked up in one area, let’s say Brighton, and they could be taken all the way over to Foothills Animal Shelter. You should be checking every shelter, every day to optimize your chances of reuniting with your lost pet. Don’t forget to leave a flyer at each shelter you visit. ♥

Adams County Animal Services / Riverdale Animal Shelter – 12155 Park Blvd, Brighton, CO 80601 – 720-523-7387
Aurora Animal Shelter – 15750 E 32nd Ave, Aurora, CO 80011 – 303-326-8280 / Animal Control 303-326-8288, option 6.
Colorado Humane Society and ASPCA– 2080 S Quebec St, Denver, CO 80231 – 720-241-7111
Denver Animal Shelter – 1241 W. Bayaud Ave. Denver, CO 80223 – 3-1-1 or 720-913-1311 / Officer Dispatch – 720-913-2080
Denver Dumb Friends League – 2080 S. Quebec St. Denver, CO 80231 – 303-751-5772
Denver Dumb Friends League (Buddy Center) – 4556 Castleton Ct. Castle Rock, CO 80109 – 303-751-5772
Foothills Animal Shelter – 580 McIntyre St, Golden, CO 80401 – 303-278-7575
Humane Society of the Boulder Valley – 2323 55th St, Boulder, CO 80301 – 303-442-4030
Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region – 610 Abbot Ln, Colorado Springs, CO 80905 – 719-473-1741
Humane Society of the South Platte Valley– 2129 W Chenango Ave, Littleton, CO 80120 – 303-703-2938
Intermountain Humane Society – 67318 US Hwy 285, Pine, CO 80470 – 303-838-2668
Longmont Humane Society – 9595 Nelson Rd, Longmont, CO 80501 – 303-772-1232

Facebook Groups Dedicated to Lost & Found Pets

If you aren’t on Facebook, get on Facebook! Social media is a POWERFUL tool when it comes to reuniting with lost pets. Create your lost pet flyer, and share it to ALL lost & found pet groups, and to any neighborhood groups near you. And then KEEP sharing it!

L.O.L.A.'s Rescue and Feline Friends of L.O.L.A.'s