Lost Pet Recovery

If you suspect your pet is lost, you should act immediately to try and locate him.  Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter handles all lost pets within Santa Cruz County except the city of Capitola.

If you have found a lost pet within Santa Cruz County, bring it to the Santa Cruz Animal Shelter. We will attempt to locate the owner and reunite the pet with its family. If an animal is wearing identification or a microchip is found during scanning, attempts will be made immediately to contact owners.

DO THIS FIRST!
GO TO THE SANTA CRUZ COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER. Click here for hours and locations. This is imperative because an animal's description is subjective, and one person's description of an animal may not necessarily match yours. Check the shelter every day.

Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter receives nearly seven thousand animals each year. One person's description of a German Shepherd mix is going to vary greatly from another's. We do not want to risk misidentifying your pet! It is an owner's responsibility to come into the shelter to look for a lost pet. The front desk staff and dispatchers cannot advise you whether your pet is or is not at our shelter. All animals are held for four days before being evaluated for adoption.

Check our Lost Pet Web Listing. IMPORTANT!  ONLY SELECT "ANIMAL TYPE" WHEN DOING AN ONLINE SEARCH.  LEAVE ALL OTHER CATEGORIES "NO PREFERENCE" TO ELIMINATE HUMAN ERROR OR DIFFERENT INTERPRETATION.

IMPORTANT! You may use this valuable tool but please remember that nothing is a substitute for personally checking for your lost pet at the shelter.  Also, if our software goes down for any reason, your pet might be at the shelter but the picture might not get uploaded right away.

BE PROACTIVE BY TAKING THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS:

  • Post signs and flyers. Signs should be eye-catching and include a picture. If someone responds to your flyer, having possibly found your animal, check it out even if it seems too far away to possibly be your animal. Animals have been found miles from where they were originally lost.
  • Post an online Lost and Found listing. We recommend listing your pet in the Lost and Found sections of as many websites as possible, but especially Craigslist.
  • Search online Lost and Found listings every day. Especially check the listings our website and on Craigslist.
  • Search your neighborhood. Talk with neighbors, local veterinarians, delivery drivers, and postal carriers. Don’t forget about newspaper deliverers that work early in the morning.
  • Place door hangers with your pet’s picture on all neighbors’ doors.
  • File a lost report with other shelters. Your pet could have been taken to a shelter outside Santa Cruz County.
  • Call veterinarians close to your location. Sometimes people will drop off stray animals if they are unable to get them to Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter.

IF YOUR LOST PET IS AT SANTA CRUZ COUNTY ANIMAL SHELTER