Please email any success stories or other help you have discovered for locating lost pets to
devons@kinect.co.nz
This Page is a start to finding your lost pet, although the routine is more focused on cats it has relevance to most lost pets
Most of this search list is taken from the wonderful site Pets On The Net

My hope is that both owners of lost pets and those people finding lost pets will be able to find eachother through sites like petsonthenet

Your Cat Has Gone Missing What Can You Do?
IMMEDIATELY
Search your house, garden and your immediate neighbours.
Kitchen / Lounge All cupboards and drawers On top of cupboards Boxes/ paper/ paper recycle Behind and under stove In warming drawer Behind and under fridge Behind and under dishwasher Bread maker, crock pot, baskets, pots In behind/in vegetable drawers Stacking vegetable bins Potato bags Under couch cushions Under couch/behind couch Behind curtains In bookcase TV/entertainment unit (behind/in) Under coffee table In closing boxes CD cabinet Behind doors In fireplace/grate or up the chimney Sewing box/mending/knitting Laundry / Bedrooms Linen cupboard shelves In and behind piles of sheets/towels etc In the laundry basket In clean or dirty washing In any cupboards Under and behind the washing machine Under and behind the drier Rag Bag In/under behind all beds All wardrobes Bookcases Piles of clothes/papers In/under/behind dressers/drawers etc In shoes In gumboots Kids toy boxes	Bathroom / Dining Room Waste paper basket Behind toilet Vanity cupboards and drawers Under table/on dining room chairs On chairs In/under/behind sideboards etc Porches and Decks Sheds and garages Boxes Large pots and under buckets In chilly bins Under decks/porches Under the house On/under outdoor furniture All shelves All boxes Piles of paper, carpet, rags etc Woodpile/woodshed On roof of garage/shed/house In rafters/ceiling of garage Gardens / Cars Up trees Under hedges Stuck in hedges Stuck in fences Asleep in the garden (flower & vegetable) In/behind compost bins/rubbish bins Under BBQ cover or on BBQ shelves Kids Playhouse Conservatories Shade or green houses Bird houses, aviary Birdbaths, water features & pools In and under cars On engine of car (open bonnet) In the boot of the car
Next doorknock your immediate neighbours Knock on the doors of your neighbours. Start with immediate ones and then widen out to all the houses in your street and neighbouring streets in all directions. Take a notebook or piece of paper to write down who was home and which houses you need to try again later. Ask neighbours if you may check (with them present) their locked sheds, cars etc for your pet in case it is locked in somewhere. It is best you do the searching, rather than trust home owners to do so they will not look as thoroughly as you will and others may not even check at all. Ask immediate neighbours to check under their house, or ideally get permission to do this yourself. Save time by distributing your flyers at the same time, once you have contacted your immediate neighbours. Tell all neighbours you are putting a lost sign up on your own fence, so they remember which house you and your pet belong to Put up a large Lost Pet sign with a photo on your fence or gate Ask the postie to please keep an eye out, they get around your neighbourhood regularly.	Your flyer should include LOST cat, dog etc and breed Where lost from, street and suburb Day, date and time last seen if known. Colour, Male or female and if neutered. Age Distinctive markings, description of any collars/ID being worn Name and phone number/s to contact you (include a landline and mobile numbers). If there is a reward, state this.
After a day or two, you should widen your flyer drop further If your cat / dog is a pedigree contact the breeder Enter an instant free lost pet notice on petsonthenet.co.nzright now Add a picture to your ad as soon as you can. Add a picture petsonthe net has found a photo increases your chances of success by 450% Search Pets On The Net site "Found Pets" now. Then continue searching later, as often as you like at no cost. Ring Animal Control (especially for dogs, although a few also do cats) Ring the SPCA Ring all local vets in your area, including after hours vets. Create and copy your mail box flyers (with photo, preferably in colour) to all other neighbours in street and surrounding streets. Put a lost pet sign up on your fence Continue to call SPCA/ Animal Control regularly - preferably daily, but definitely at least once within any seven day period. This is because if a shelter such as the pound or SPCA etc receives your pet, they only have to hold them for seven days. After seven days, they can rehome your pet, or even euthanise your pet. So keep checking!!!! I have had several owners even take photos to the local SPCA and later find their cat had been there all along! I also had an owner check regularly, and leave a flyer and photo with the SPCA and by luck a cat rescue friend called me to say the SPCA were rehoming a Devon Rex, the very cat the owner had been searching for for months! Continue to run your free ad on petsonthenet.co.nz, and check their found section Continue ads in local papers for as long as you want to Continue to drop flyers in your street and widen out the area you drop flyers into and place posters in.	Flyers to local shops, dairies and supermarkets These flyers really should be in colour, with a photo and also laminated. Your pet will be far easier to identify in colour and your laminated flyers will stay up a lot longer on shop windows and train stations etc then a flimsy paper flyer will. Paper flyers quickly get dog eared and rip away in the wind. Lamination will protect your flyer and make sure it serves it purpose whilst it's needed. It could be weeks, so they need to last Ads in local papers. Book newspaper ads the day your pet goes missing because it can take 2 - 3 days for your ad to be published. Some papers are only weekly! The best time for a lost pet ad to be seen (looked for by the finder) is immediately after the loss, not weeks later. You can get excellent exposure though an ad in your local paper/s State LOST as your first word, or it can be ambiguous if your ad is for a lost or found pet. Where missing from ie) suburb or street and suburb Date your pet went missing/was last seen. Species and breed ie) Siamese cat or Border Collie dog. Most cats are no specific breed, in which case "cat" will do. Coat length ie) Short, medium or long hair Colour/s Sex of pet Your contact name and number (preferably not just a cellphone number) as people may be reluctant to pay a toll call to phone you, or they may have a toll bar.

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