An estimated one of every three pets gets lost during its lifetime.
Any pet can get lost, but newly-adopted pets are as much as four times more likely to run away, compared with established pets. Taking your pet on vacation or moving it to a new home can also increase the risk of its getting lost.
In observance of Lost Pet Prevention Month, we recommend a number of simple actions you can take now to reduce your pet’s risk of being lost and improve your chances of getting a lost pet back home.
Keeping Your Pet from Getting Lost
There are a number of measures you can take now to keep your pet safely at home where he or she belongs.
Secure your yard, making sure fencing is intact and gates are closed. Fill in any gaps at the base of the fence and, if necessary, install wire mesh above and below to discourage jumping and digging.
Secure windows and doors. A motivated pet can easily push through a window screen or unlatched door. Be particularly attentive when workers or guests are coming and going and doors may be left open.
When outdoors, keep your dog on a leash. While your off-lead dog may usually stay close and come when called, even the best-trained dog can be startled by loud noises or irresistibly tempted to chase other animals that unexpectedly appear on the scene.
Spay or neuter your pet to reduce the urge to roam. Mating instincts are powerful!
Secure your pet in a crate or carrier when traveling. While your home may be relatively secure, conditions away from home may not be, and the area will be unfamiliar to your pet.
Plan ahead for fireworks, thunderstorms and other noisy situations that could trigger your pet’s flight response. See our posts, “Is Your Dog Noise Phobic?” and “Managing Your Pet’s Noise Anxiety” for advice on keeping your noise-averse pet safe.
Helping Pets Get Found and Returned Home
More than 90% of lost pets who make it back home get there because of ID tags, microchips or other identification like tattoos. We recommend these strategies to improve your chances of recovering a lost pet.
Photographs
Have a photography session featuring your pet, taking care to capture multiple views and distinctive markings that would help a stranger recognize your pet. If you regularly have your dog’s coat trimmed, shoot photos showing how he or she looks with varying coat lengths. Include yourself in some of the photos in case you need to establish that the pet belongs to you.
Collar Tags
Keep a collar on your pet with identification tags attached at all times. Even indoor pets can easily slip through an open door or window and get lost outside.
You may choose standard tags bearing the pet’s name and your name, address and phone number. These provide the most easily-accessible contact information to anyone who finds your lost pet. Search online for “pet ID tags” to see a full selection.
A digital tag with a quick-response (QR) code is a relatively new, surprisingly inexpensive pet ID option that allows you—usually at no additional cost—to register multiple contacts and detailed information about your pet, including photographs and medical data. If someone finds your pet, they can scan the QR code with a smart phone to access all your pet’s information. An online search for “digital pet id tags” will generate multiple options.
Most lost pets with an up-to-date ID tag are returned home within a few hours.
GPS Tracking Collars
A number of Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking collars and tags are now available to allow you to track your pet’s location using your cell phone.
This comprehensive article from PC Magazine, “The Best Pet Trackers and GPS Dog Collars for 2023” identifies, ranks and reviews a half-dozen products, weighing pros and cons of each and offering a buying guide to help you choose the best one for your pet.
Microchips
In addition to external collar tags, we recommend having us implant a microchip to identify your pet even if its collar falls off or is removed. Nearly all shelters and veterinary hospitals—including ours—have scanners that can detect and read the microchip’s registration number. Assuming you’ve registered and kept your contact information up-to-date, a microchip can improve the likelihood your pet will make it back home by 50%.
What to Do if Your Pet Gets Lost
If you lose a pet, call the Hendricks County Animal Shelter immediately. Be prepared to supply photographs and a description of the pet and details of where and when you lost it.
For a video overview of preventing pets from getting lost and finding those that do, see “How to prevent and deal with lost pets!” from the Jackson Galaxy YouTube channel. Although the channel is focused on cats, the recommendations apply to dogs as well.
This 5-minute video from the City of Sacramento’s Front Street Animal Shelter, “How to Find a Lost Dog,” offers practical advice on improving your chances of recovering your lost dog.
The Sacramento shelter has a similar video, “How to Find a Lost Cat,” that describes how to adapt your search methods to typical lost cat behavior.
If You Find a Pet
If the pet will come close enough to allow it, check for an ID tag and call the phone number listed. If the pet has a digital tag with a QR code, scan it with your phone to access the owner’s contact information.
If you can safely capture the pet, if possible, confine it to your home and/or fenced yard to keep it safe while you attempt to contact the owner. If you are unable to keep the pet in your home while trying to find the owner, make arrangements with the Hendricks County Animal Shelter to bring the pet to the shelter.
If there are no ID tags, knock on doors to see if neighbors recognize the pet.
Photograph the pet and post on community and neighborhood social media pages.
Have the pet checked for a microchip at a veterinary clinic or shelter. If a microchip is present and the owner has kept contact information current, you can get the information you need to contact the owner from the microchip registry.
How We Can Help
If you pet hasn’t yet had a microchip implanted, call the office to schedule an appointment. If your pet is scheduled for any procedure requiring anesthesia, such as neutering or a dental cleaning, you may prefer to have the chip implanted then.
If your pet already has a microchip, we can scan for it during your next clinic visit to make sure it’s still in place and readable.
If you’ve found a pet and are unable to contact its owner based on collar tags, call us to arrange a convenient time to bring the pet in to the clinic so we can scan for a microchip.
If you report a lost or found pet to the Hendricks County Animal Shelter as we strongly recommend, we will help spread the news by sharing lost and found Brownsburg pet posts from the shelter’s Facebook page on the Brownsburg Animal Clinic page.
It’s our way of doing what we can to help get lost pets back home where they belong, and nothing pleases us more than to see “HOME” added to a post we’ve shared.