Do You Have a Lost or Found Pet? 

What to do if you find a pet

Thank you for making the decision to help a pet in need!

Here are a few things you can do to try to help reunite the pet with their owner:

• Take the pet to any veterinary clinic or shelter to have them scanned for a microchip. This service is free of charge, and most (if not all) of these places will have scanners available for this reason. If the pet has a microchip tag, you can look up the number here:
  • www.petmicrochiplookup.org/
  • https://www.aaha.org/petmicrochiplookup

• If you are unable to foster the pet for a short period until the owner is found, the best option for the pet is to be surrendered to the animal shelter. This is one of the best resources for reuniting pets and owners, and if by chance the owner is not found, the shelter then prepares pets to be safely adopted by new owners. Services they can provide include spay/neuter, microchip, and vaccinations—this is all done after the pet has had a wellness check. If you have concerns about using a shelter as a resource, call them and ask them questions! You will often find yourself pleasantly surprised by how genuinely caring and knowledgeable they are.

• If you can foster the lost pet, you will want to post a picture and information in as many places as possible in hopes of reaching the owner. Include as much information as you can and remember that owners should be able to prove ownership with photos or vet records.

Resources for Reuniting

Beyond the traditional posting of fliers or putting an ad in the paper, tons of great resources are available to help get lost pets reunited with their families. Here are just a few:

Animal Shelter employees are animal lovers and do the best they can to reunite pets or find them new homes. They will also have many resources available to not only share misplaced pet information but also ensure that pets receive medical attention if necessary.

• Moore Animal Welfare: (405) 793-5190
  3900 S I-35 Service Rd, Moore, OK 73129
• Oklahoma City Animal Welfare: (405) 297-3100 
  2811 SE 29th St, Oklahoma City, OK 73129
• Norman Animal Welfare: (405) 292-9736 | After Hours Emergencies: (405) 321-1444
  3428 Jenkins Ave., Norman, OK 73069 

Facebook is a great resource to get the word out about a found pet or search for one that is lost. Several sites have been set up just for this purpose. This is one of them:

• OKC Area Lost and Found Pets

Social media apps are also an excellent avenue to help reunite pets and owners. A great place to start might be:

• Nextdoor can be viewed on a computer or an app added to your phone.
• Paw Boost is a database of lost pets and resources for owners

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at (405) 794-8504.