Anam Cara Ministry

State ONLY the following:  Missing Cat/Dog (etc.), Large Reward, Please contact John & Jane (your names), at 123-456-7890 (your telephone number), and a Photo of your pet.

NEVER list your pet's name on the poster, don't say how much the reward is. 

Why?  First, if some stranger knows your pet's name, if they find it, they will call our for your pet and probably never return it to you. 

Second, if someone calls about the reward, ask for their number FIRST, say you have to call them back...check out and see if it is a real number. 

Why?  If you say what the reward is and it is too small, if that person has your pet, you will 1) never find them if you don't have a real telephone number, and 2) they will never return your pet if the dollar amount is too small.

Within the first 12 hours of your pet missing, starting knocking on ALL your neighbors' doors.  Ask if you can check their backyard and garage for your pet, and show them your flyer.  NEVER ask if THEY will check!  You have to ask to check their yards, and most people are more than happy to let you do so.  If they aren't home, go back later and ask.  You never know who may be holding a "lost" animal, not knowing who it belongs to.

If you suspect someone has your pet ~ contact your local law enforcement station.  However, be advised that they will ask you for specific details on why you think this person or persons has your pet.  So, if you just don't like someone and you make that kind of call, more than likely in the future, the police will not respond if you do find that someone else has your pet.  This is very important.  Most law enforcement are keen animal lovers and advocates, so only use their services when you have specific reasons to believe someone is holding your pet.

After the first 12 hours, visit ALL the local shelters ~ County, State and Federal ~ such as the Humane Society, ASPCA, all the local No-Kill shelters, and so forth.  You can find all these types of shelters in your city's Yellow Pages.  Don't call them ~ they won't answer as they are too busy attending hurt and ill animals in their care.  GO TO THEM INDIVIDUALLY at least every couple days, and see if someone may have found your pet and dropped them off with one of these wonderful agencies.

Roam your neighborhood several times each day and night, calling out your pet's name.  Depending on where you live, your pet may have gotten scared, and may be hiding under a bush or in a back yard, and your voice, a familiar voice, will eventually calm them down and bring them out of their hiding spot.

Keep in mind, that it sometimes takes a week or two for scared animals to come back home.  Don't give up right away!  Our beloved Coco was missing for 12 days, and we finally found her.  Where?  In our neighbor's garage, across the street two houses down. 

Here is a good example of what I mentioned above about other people not having the same feelings or beliefs about pets as you may have.  A neighbor (that we didn't really know that well) knew that our cat was missing, knew the cat hiding in their garage was our cat ~ but because we didn't have a collar on her, they were trying to keep her themselves, because they thought we were "bad" pet parents because we let her go outside. 

So, keep this in mind when searching for your pet ~ you have to make the effort to find your pet, no one else will, no matter what they say.  Keep searching for weeks if necessary until all your leads are exhausted.