10 Tips for Finding a Lost Pet
1. Check throughout your house carefully, including places where your pet “could not possibly go”. Look inside drawers, under dressers, in hampers, under and inside the refrigerator, etc. Don’t assume that your pet would never crawl into some tiny space.
2. Check your backyard, bushes, and garage. Most pets when exploring a new area will cling to the side of a building or structure before venturing out into an open area.
3. Ask your neighbors and especially neighborhood children. Kids spend more time outside than adults do and a new ‘creature’ roaming the block will surely catch their attention. Ask permission to enter neighbor’s sheds or garages and ask your neighbors to check their dryer vents to see if the ferret may have climbed into them.
4. Make some noise while you walk around the neighborhood to get your pet’s attention. But make sure to stop and listen for their sounds in reply. Carry a box of your pet’s favorite treats and rattle it loudly while calling your pet’s name.
5. 
Post notices and pictures of your pet wherever possible – bulletin boards at grocery stores, libraries, and gas stations. Be sure to go back and take them down again once your pet is safe back at home.
6. Place an ad in your local newspaper and internet Lost Pet sites. Give a detailed description of your pet; when it was lost; and the general area where it was lost. Be sure to list your phone number.
7. Alert your mailman, newspaper boy, and anyone else who passes through your area frequently.
8. Call your animal control, humane societies, and animal shelters. If possible, give them a picture of your pet or a very detailed description. Does your pet have any tattoos or distinguishing marks to make identification easier? Check back frequently since they may be too busy to call you.
9. Go and Visit animal control, humane societies, and animal shelters yourself. Your description of your pet and their description rarely match. If possible leave a photo and phone number where they can contact you if found. You should check every 2 days and be aware of how much time you have to claim your pet before the agency adopts out or euthanizes.
10. Place your pet’s cage or carrier and bedding outside with some of his favorite foods, treats and toys. Also put out some smelly foods if you are around, tuna, sardines, chicken, liver, meats. Animals have a very strong sense of smell and sometimes they can smell their way home. Check the area frequently for signs of their return.
Prevention
* Make sure you have current color photographs of your pet that show any special markings.
* Microchip your pet. Shelters and veterinarians will still be able to identify your pet after the collar might have fallen off.
* Engraved Pet ID Tag – Plastic or Stainless Steel
* Global Pet Finder GPS Tracking Device for Pets
* Spay or neuter your pets! Males and females will be much less likely to wander if they are “fixed.”
Peggy Adam’s Animal Rescue League
West Palm Beach, FL
(561) 686-3663
Tri-County Humane Society
Boca Raton, Florida
(561) 482-8110
Boynton Beach Animal Control
City of Boynton Beach, Florida
(561)-742-6210
Delray Beach Animal Control
City of Delray Beach, Florida
(561) 243-7330
Safe Harbor Animal Rescue and Clinic
Jupiter, Florida
(561) 747-1598
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