Listed below are some different resources you can use for listing your lost and found pet.
Craigslist is free to use and easy to advertise on. You can post an ad for your pet under the community section for your area. Publish one copy of the listing under “pets” and the other under “lost and found,” just to make sure you have maximum exposure. Include a picture with your ad, and make sure you list a phone number for people to contact you through.
You may have several lost and found pet groups in your area that you can join on Facebook. Whether the groups are public or private, you can request to be a member of the group and wait for someone to approve you. This process should not take long. Once you have been approved to participate in the group, you can create a listing for the pet with a picture, phone number, email address, etc.
One of the more traditional methods for advertising lost and found pets is putting up flyers around the neighborhood. You will need to check with your local authorities to find out how you can advertise your pet without breaking city laws. For instance, you may be able to hang your flyers on community bulletin boards but not poles for street lamps. If you fail to abide by the laws, you could be fined for displaying your ads incorrectly.
Some newspapers offer free ad spaces for lost and found pets. If not, you may have to pay a fee for advertising your pet there. You will most likely get a better response from the online resources listed above, but this is yet another venue to explore.
If you find a pet and take it into your home, you want to make sure it goes back to its rightful owners. Look for any identifying marks on the pet that the owner may know about, like a spot of color on a certain part of the body or a collar that you can take off in photographs. When someone contacts you about the pet, ask them an open-ended question to see if they know about the identifier you noticed. This is especially true for full-bred dogs and cats that come with expensive adoption fees. Some people will claim ownership just to turn around and sell it.
