Missing or Lost Pets

If your pet is lost or missing, call the Animal Control Office at 804-365-6485 to give a “missing pet report”.  A staff person will take a report on your pet and keep it on file for ninety days.  The staff will also be able to give you helpful hints on how to help locate your lost pet.  An important reminder is to always keep identification on your pet.  If a pet is picked up by Animal Control and has identification on it, the pet owner is called as soon as possible to let them know their pet has been located.

Lost/found pet reports are entered into the system and a report of lost/found pets is printed daily.

Citizens may post their own lost/found flyers on the Pound’s lost/found boards in the Pound facility.

Citizens must come to the Pound facility on a regular basis to see if their pet could possibly be there.

Because it is impossible to positively identify an animal that a citizen has reported to have found, citizens who find stray animals, should turn the animal over to Animal Control in order for the owner to find and identify the animal.

Tips for Finding a Lost Pet:

Contact local animal shelters/animal control agencies.  File a lost pet report with every shelter within a 60-mile radius of your home and visit the nearest shelters daily, if possible. 

Search the neighborhood.  Walk or drive through your neighborhood several times each day.  Ask neighbors, letter carriers and delivery people if they have seen your pet.

Advertise.  Post flyers with a picture of your pet, if possible, and include your pet’s sex, age, weight, breed, color and any special markings. 

A pet – even an indoor pet – has a better chance of being returned if she always wears a collar and an ID tag with the owner’s name, address and telephone number.  Microchipping your pet is another avenue of pet identification, especially if the pet’s collar is lost or removed. 

To avoid losing your pet:

Keep your pet indoors, especially when you are not at home.
Identify your pet with a collar and tag, microchip or tattoo.
Padlock gates and make sure people cannot access your pets over fences.
Keep your pet on a leash whenever you go outside.
Know where your pets are at all times.

Do not:

Let your pet roam free in the neighborhood.
Let your pet be visible from the street.
Leave your pets unattended at any time.
Leave pets outside a store or in a car to wait for you.

Additional Resources

The Center For Lost Pets

Missing Pet Partnership