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Search Day
One
Find your lost pet strategy checklist
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pet advice page
Day One Action Plan
Summary:
As soon as you realise your pet is missing do a
quick search of home, road, immediate neighbours. Post an ad on
petsonthenet.co.nz. Call SPCA, Animal
Control, vets and get your first round of flyers out in your
street
Print,
then tick off as you go.
Click each link for more information on each action point
Search
house, garden and outbuildings. Check road.
Doorknock
and search immediate neighbours
Register and place a "Lost" ad on petsonthenet
Check
"Found" ads on petsonthenet
Ring
Animal Control
Contact
SPCA (some SPCAs put
all their incoming stray pets on petsonthenet,
so you don't have to check with them, just check our
found pet ads daily
Ring all
vets
in your area
Flyers.
Put flyers into your own street on Day One
Lost pet sign on berm
 STEP TWO
Tomorrow go
to Day Two
Action Plan
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Action Points - in depth |
Search
house, outbuildings and garden
First do a quick visual scan up and down the road in case your
pet has been run over or is injured on or near the road. Then click here for our
house and garden search checklist.
Doorknock
and search immediate neighbours
(a wider search and doorknock (with flyers) comes later
Take a photo of your pet and door knock your immediate
neighbours. Say your pet is missing and ask if you can accompany them NOW (or at a
convenient
time in the very near future) to check their locked garages,
under houses, gardens etc in case your pet is locked in somewhere
on their property. Try not to rely on people saying they will
check "later" because they don't always do what they say
will...For example when our cat went missing in 2000 (and in her absence
founded this website!) we door knocked a young teenage neighbour who
casually agreed to
check locked buildings etc for her. But it seems she did not...
So three
days later when the family finally unlocked their washhouse
to do some laundry, she bolted out and headed straight home.
Ask your neighbours if they have locked anything lately they
don't often go into ie under house etc, or if they know if other
neighbours have been away. An empty house (people away or house
on the market etc) is a prime target to investigate for a
trapped cat. If a house is on the market ring the agent and ask them come
around with all the keys and let you check the property with
them. If the house is empty as people are on holiday, observe
the house windows for signs of your pet. Walk around the house
calling and listening for your pet, especially at the quiet
twilight dusk time. If possible advise neighbours you will be
doing this, so you don't get in trouble! If your cat is seen in
a locked house or garage. leave a note on the door and/or in the
mail box. if no contact in 24 hours and people still not home,
contact SPCA or Police for advice
Register and place a "Lost" ad on petsonthenet.
Click here to register an place an ad right now.
A picture says a thousand words and hugely increases your
chances of success, pictures are also free, so please add one. Posting
a lost pet ad is free (bronze level ad), but we highly recommend you also
add some form of paid upgrade wherever possible to give your ad
much more exposure and help it stand out amongst the over 5000
ads placed per month...For example for only $5.00 your pet will
get much higher visibility with an Attention Getter like
this one beside your ad title...
Further increase how often your ad is seen by
upgrading to a silver or gold level ad and BE SEEN
where people know to look for lost and found pets.
Sales of upgrades not only give your lost pet a lot more
attention and exposure, they also help us raise funds to run
this community service so we can reunite and rehome more pets
throughout NZ, including hopefully your pet as well.
If
you use facebook, once your ad is posted on petsonthenet, "share it" on
facebook by simply clicking the facebook icon next
to your ad headline on your petsonthenet ad to share it. Tweet
it too. Let your social networks help you to find your pet!
Search petsonthenet "Found Pets" now
Search our
"Found
Pets" now. Found pets
are in chronological order, so if yours is missing for only a
few hours there will only be a few ads to check. Sometimes pets
are reunited within minutes in this way. Continue
checking the appropriate "found pet" section as often as you like at no cost. We recommend
you check the found pet listings at least once daily, ideally
for at least 3 -6 months - or until your pet is home. Don't give
up too soon!
Contact Animal Control
Ring
Animal Control
(especially for dogs,
although a few Animal Controls also do cats). Ask if they put all their
found/stray dogs on petsonthenet.co.nz. if they do not, ask them
to consider this. More information to
help Animal Controls use our free community service is here
SPCA
Contact the SPCA
. Ask if they put all their "found stray pets" on
petsonthenet.co.nz, so you can check via this website daily
(Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury SPCAs DO put all
their found pets on petsonthenet).
Otherwise you will need to
ring or visit your local SPCA every few days. If an SPCA does
not use petsonthenet's free service, encourage them to consider
doing this. maybe you could help them get started by
volunteering to photograph their found pets and put a
description
for each on petsonthenet? Petsonthenet Admin can also help
SPCAs and pounds set up this function very easily even
organising volunteers if required. If the shelter knows there is
a demand for our online service, they will be more likely to use
it.
Ask your local SPCA if there are any other shelters they know of
in the area that could possibly have taken in a stray animal
i.e.
In Auckland there are many in different areas - Lonely Miaow,
Forgotten Felines etc
Ring
ALL
local vets in your area, including
all after hours vets. Use the Veterinary Council of NZ website
to pull up a full
list
of all vets in your town or city
Create
and copy your mail box flyers
(with photo, preferably in colour) to all other neighbours in street and
surrounding streets. Click here to see our
sample
flyer and checklist for flyers.
Put a
lost
pet sign up on your fence and berm
(free and very effective!) This is our real life example, we made it from two tomato
stakes, the side of a cardboard box and poster paint. Everyone driving or walking past knew our cat was missing and where to come if they saw him!
 Here's our cat Homer, back home after five days and
happily smooching his sign, which now says FOUND!
Click for Homers Success Story
Some Success Stories due to signs
"My boxer pup went missing for approx. two weeks. We put a large
sign on our fence and our baby came home!!!! The people saw our
sign...."
"I did get the suggestion re: sign on our fence, from
petsonthenet.co.nz
and it worked a treat".
Tomorrow go
to Day Two
Action Plan
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Back to main Lost
Pets Advice page
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If you have appreciated our advice, support and free
ads, please
support us with your donation so we can continue to
reunite and rehome more pets throughout NZ. Every dollar
helps, thank you.
Feline Founder of petsonthenet.co.nz,
Sammy. Her three day disappearance in 2000 inspired the birth of PetsontheNet!
(click
for her story).
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