Pets Lost And Found

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

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.

FLYERS, POSTERS AND SIGNS

Once you have contacted your immediate neighbours - save time by distributing flyers while you are door knocking.

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.

If your cat / dog is a pedigree contact the breeder

Enter an instant free lost pet notice on petsonthenet.co.nz. Add a picture to your ad as soon as you can - a photo increases your chances of success by 450%. Search Pets On The Net site "Found Pets" and keep checking it regularly

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 your pet will be far easier to identify in colour, I personally find the phone number on rip off tabs along the bottom of the flyer wonderful, people in a hurry or juggling groceries or young children can quickly rip one off and call you when they have both hands free. Flyers for outside should be laminated to last in the weather. Laminated flyers will stay up a lot longer on shop windows and train stations etc than a flimsy paper flyer will.

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.