I LOST MY PET
Losing a pet can be a traumatic experience for a pet owner. We know you are frantic and feeling lost yourself as to what to do to quickly reunite with your pet. We want to help you as much as we can to make sure your pet is safely returned home to you.
What to Do When You Lose a Pet
Losing a pet is heartbreaking, and we understand how overwhelming and emotional those first moments can be. You may feel unsure where to begin—but you’re not alone. We’re here to help guide you through it. Here are important tips to follow in the moments, hours, and days after your pet goes missing to increase the chances of a safe and speedy reunion.
Submit Your LOST Pet to Petco Love Lost
Petco Love Lost is a system used by many local animal shelters to upload animals that come into their facility as lost or found pets. When you upload your lost pet, use a clear image and it will use facial recognition software to see if there are any matches within the community that may fit your lost pet.
What to Do When You Lose a Pet
What to Do: Immediately
Guide Them Home
Place familiar-smelling items outside your home, such as your pet’s bed, blanket, favorite toy, or litter box. These scents can act as a scent trail to help guide them back to to the safety of your home.
Alert Your Neighborhood Network
- Notify neighbors in-person or via the communication tools your community uses most (e.g., Facebook, Nextdoor, group texts, email lists, or social media groups).
- Share key info: recent photos, a physical description, and the last known location.
Contact the Microchip Provider
If your pet has a microchip, report them as lost immediately. Not sure which company you got your microchip from? AAHA has a wonderful tool that can help you look up your pet by their microchip number.
What to Do: A Few Hours Missing
Report Your Pet Missing
Use the Petco Love Lost tool online to upload information and a clear photo of your pet. This tool uses facial recognition technology to help match the photo you upload with lost or found pets in its database. It includes reports from both individuals and local shelter partners. By submitting a photo and details of a lost or found pet, you help make that pet searchable to families looking for their furry friend—bringing you one step closer to a happy reunion.
Report a Lost Pet to Petco Love Lost
Contact Us at the Humane Society of Greater Dayton
Call the Humane Society of Greater Dayton at 937-268-PETS (7387) to file a lost pet report with us. This helps us identify lost dogs brought to our facility. You can also fill out a report online.
What We Will Do
If a lost pet is brought to the Humane Society of Greater Dayton, we make every attempt to reunite the pet with its owner. This includes checking the dog’s license and scanning the animal for a pet-identification microchip. To identify a dog by its license, we enter its license number into the Montgomery County Auditor’s website. Please make sure that the Auditor’s office has your current contact information.
We scan lost pets for a microchip, too. The microchip will direct us to the microchip company. The microchip company will provide the owner’s contact information. Please make sure that your information is current with the microchip company. Note: Microchips are not GPS-enabled. We cannot find your lost dog through GPS-tracking techniques.
If we can’t identify information on a lost dog, the dog will be sent to the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center for a specified holding period. Again, visit their shelter immediately and frequently! Other types of animals will be held at the Humane Society for a period of time and then if not claimed will be added to our adoption program.
Inform Local Authorities
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Call your local police department. They might not house found animals, but they can document the report or alert you to sightings.
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Notify your county animal shelter. Visit their website or call to report your pet as missing and ask about their intake and stray hold procedures.
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If you lost your dog and live in Montgomery County, contact the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center (not affiliated with the Humane Society of Greater Dayton) to report your missing dog. All stray dogs are taken first to the Montgomery County Animal Resource Center, located at 6790 Webster Street, Dayton, OH 45414. Dogs found by citizens are often taken to the Animal Resource Center. Visit their shelter immediately and frequently to check if your dog has been taken there. You can contact them at 937-898-4457.
Hit the Streets
Walk your neighborhood and talk with your neighbors, mail carriers, delivery drivers and maintenance staff. Have any of them seen any stray animals in the area?
What to Do: After More than a Day Missing
Visit the Animal Shelter In-Person
Don’t just call—go to your local county shelter and physically walk through the kennels. You’re the most likely person to recognize your pet. Contact other shelters, too.
Post Updates
Social media is a wonderful thing. Use lost and found pet groups in your community, community groups or your own social media page to update how the search is going. This keeps your pet at the forefront of people’s minds and they can help keep an eye out in the community for your pet and report back to you if they see anything.
Post Flyers in Key Locations
Make flyers with a clear image of your pet and post them around your community in key locations, on community boards and in spots that will be seen by many people. Make sure to include a way for someone to contact you if they have found your pet.
Stay Hopeful and Stay Active
Pets have been reunited with their families after days, weeks, months or even years. Remain persistent, keep checking resources, and continue searching.
Other Resources to Help You Locate Your Pet
- Use Petco Love Lost to keep an eye on animals being found within your community.
- Contact your local humane society, animal control, and larger rescue groups in your area, including:
- Humane Society of Greater Dayton – 937-268-PETS (7387), 1661 Nicholas Road, Dayton, OH 45417
- Montgomery County Animal Resource Center – 937-898-4457, 6790 Webster Street, Dayton, OH 45414
- SICSA – 937-294-6505, 8172 Washington Church Road, Washington Township, OH 45458
- Post your lost pet to social media groups such as Dayton Ohio and Surrounding Area Lost and Found Pets page on Facebook or on the Humane Society of Greater Dayton’s Facebook page.
- Use neighborhood-focus apps such as Nextdoor to post your missing pet and let those in your neighborhood help bring your pet home safely.
- Visit sites such as PawBoost to create a Lost Pet Flyer that you can email to neighbors and shelters as well as post throughout your community. We recommend posting them at grocery stores, coffee shops, delis, community centers, veterinary offices, traffic intersections, and pet supplies stores.
- Go door-to-door to talk with your neighbors and alert them that your pet is missing. The more people you have aware of and looking for your pet, the better!
- Talk to your mail carriers or local delivery drivers. They are constantly throughout your neighborhood and could help by keeping their eyes open in case they see a pet wandering the streets.
- Post your lost pet to websites such as Pet FBI or sites such as:
- Place an ad in your local newspaper.
Avoid Pet-Recovery Scams
Sadly, people may find your pet loss as an avenue to scam you during your desperate time. When talking to a stranger who believes they have found your pet, have them describe it to you in great detail. If there is a certain characteristic that helps to easily identify your pet, leave this information out of your public information.
If the person does not describe this special feature to you when you contact them, then there is a good chance they may not have your pet. Be extremely cautious if the person who claims to have your pet requires you to give them or wire them money in exchange for your pet.
I FOUND A PET
Finding a lost pet can be both heartwarming and overwhelming. Thank you for stepping up to help a scared animal in need. While they can’t tell us where they belong, there are simple and effective steps you can take to help reunite them with their family. Here’s what to do in the first moments, hours, and days after finding a lost pet to give them the best chance of making it back home.
What to Do When You Find a Pet
If you’ve just found a stray pet, your actions can make all the difference. This animal may be lost, scared, and missing their home—and you’re their first hope. Before assuming they’ve been abandoned, follow these important first steps to help locate their owner. Below, you’ll find a guide on what to do in the minutes, hours, and days after finding a pet.
Submit Your FOUND Pet to Petco Love Lost
Petco Love Lost is a system used by many local animal shelters to upload animals that come into their facility as lost or found pets. When you upload your lost pet, use a clear image and it will use facial recognition software to see if there are any matches within the community that may fit your lost pet.
Found a Pet? Here's What to Do Next
Most lost pets aren’t far from home—and they likely have a family searching for them right now. If you've found a stray, your compassion can help them get back where they belong. Follow these steps in the first moments, hours, and days after finding a pet.
What to Do: Immediately
Prioritize Medical Needs
If the animal appears injured, sick, or in distress, don’t wait. Call your local county animal shelter for guidance or take the pet to a nearby veterinary clinic for immediate care.
Scan for a Microchip
A microchip can help identify the owner in minutes. Most vet clinics, shelters, and even some police departments offer free microchip scanning—no appointment necessary.
Spread the Word Nearby
Snap a clear photo and notify your community. Go door-to-door, or post in places neighbors are likely to check—such as local Facebook lost & found pages, Nextdoor, and neighborhood forums or email groups.
Walk the Area
Since most pets stay within a mile of home, take a stroll through nearby streets. Someone may recognize them, or the pet may even lead you home!
What to Do: A Few Hours Since Found
Report the Pet as Found
Use the Petco Love Lost tool online to upload information and a clear photo of your pet. This tool uses facial recognition technology to help match the photo you upload with lost or found pets in its database. It includes reports from both individuals and local shelter partners. By submitting a photo and details of a lost or found pet, you help make that pet searchable to families looking for their furry friend—bringing you one step closer to a happy reunion.
Report a Lost Pet to Petco Love Lost
Contact Us at the Humane Society of Greater Dayton
Call the Humane Society of Greater Dayton at 937-268-PETS (7387) to file a found pet report with us. This helps us identify animals brought to our facility. You can also fill out a report online.
Provide Safe Shelter
If it’s safe to do so, bring the pet indoors. Keep them in a secure space, away from your own animals—like a bathroom, laundry room, or garage—until their next steps are clear.
Search Lost Pet Listings
Check local lost pet posts. Look through community Facebook pages, Nextdoor, Craigslist, and platforms like Petco Love Lost—where facial recognition might match the pet’s photo with a missing report.
Post the Pet as Found
Besides posting to Petco Love Lost, you can also post the pet as found to local social media groups, lost and found pages, neighborhood apps as well as through your own social media page. Make sure the photo is clear and there is a way for someone to contact you if they believe the animal is their lost pet.
Notify Local Officials
Let your local police department and animal shelter know you’ve found a pet. They may have received calls from the owner or be able to add the pet to their stray animal log.
What to Do: After More than a Day Since Found
It’s time to expand your efforts!
Hang Up Flyers
Print and post found pet signs in high-traffic areas near where the animal was located. Intersections, bus stops, and popular walking routes are great places to start. Make sure to have a clear image of the animal on the flyer as well as a way for someone to contact you if they pet is theirs.
Keep Checking In
Even if you haven’t heard back, don’t lose hope. Recheck online listings regularly, and repost your found pet information every couple of days to keep it visible.Continually check in with your local county animal shelter along with other larger rescue groups to see if anyone has reported an animal similar to yours as lost.
Keep Updating on Social Media
Continue to post images and updates on social media sites letting people know you have found a pet. The more you post it out there, the more people who will see it and be able to help and share the information.
It's Been Awhile and No Owner Has Been Found...Now What?
Every shelter has different procedures for strays animal intake, so contact your county animal shelter to find out what options are available. If they’re not accepting animals, try reaching out to nonprofit rescues and humane organizations in your area.
Still need help? Contact the Humane Society of Greater Dayton’s Intake Team at intake@hsdayton.org for additional support. As a limited-intake facility we are only able to take in animals as we have space available. However, even if we are unable to take in the animal, we can still provide you with additional resources to help you find placement for the stray pet.