Lost Pets

Your pet is missing and you can't find it. You're heartbroken and full of panic. What do you do? Here are some important tips to help you find your beloved pet.

• Go to the shelter in person and bring a color photo if possible. Fill out a lost pet report. All strays are held a minimum of 96 hours at the Humane Society of Sedona before being placed up for adoption. Visit every day if possible.
• Check the "Found Pets" ads in your local newspaper.
• Place "Lost Pet" ads in your local newspaper. They show you're actively looking for your pet, in case someone else claims it.
• Call all local animal control agencies.

  ANIMAL CONTROL: Abuse, dogs at large, barking complaints, bite cases and rabies reports
  Sedona Police Dept.	928-282-3100
  Cottonwood Police Dept.	928-634-4246
  Camp Verde Marshall's Office	928-567-6621
  Yavapai Animal Control	928-639-8100
  Coconino County Animal Control	928-226-2717
  AZ Livestock Inspector	800-294-0305
  HUMANE SOCIETIES
  Humane Society of Sedona	928-282-4679
  Verde Valley Humane Society	928-634-7387
  Coconino Humane Society	928-526-1076
  Yavapai Humane Society	928-445-2666
  Payson Humane Society	928-474-5590
  Arizona Humane Society	602-997-3000
  WILDLIFE: Injured or abandoned
  AZ Game & Fish	928-774-5045
  Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center	602-942-3000 Ext 3371
  PET CREMATION/EUTHANASIA
  Verde Valley Humane Society	928-634-7387
  POISON CONTROL	800-362-0101

• Ask family, friends, and neighbors to help you search for your pet as soon as you realize your pet is missing.
• Walk, bike, drive, or jog through your neighborhood every day and more than once to find your missing pet.
• Place clothing, toys, litter box, and other items familiar to your pet outside the yard where he/she might sense it.
• Put signs around the neighborhood or area where your pet was last seen. Include photo and description of your pet, your phone number and when your pet disappeared. Make sure you have an answering machine for those calls.
• Call your veterinarian. Your pet's rabies tag number can be traced to your veterinarian.
• Ask your mailperson, newspaper delivery, and anyone who travels throughout your area regularly on business to look out for your pet.
• Pets can wander far very quickly, so give fliers with a color photograph and description of your pet to those organizations within 50 miles of your home. Visit or contact these organizations as much as possible.
• If permitted, post your fliers at local businesses in your area (veterinarian clinics, gas stations, grocery stores, and community centers).
• Talk with people who walk their dogs in your area.

For your posters and newspaper ads, leave out one identifying feature in your pet's description, such as a splotch of color on the nose or extra toes. This protects you from pet-recovery scams and is a sure-proof way of verifying that someone definitely found your pet. Most importantly, don't give up hope. Remember, there are countless stories of animals that were lost for months but were eventually and happily reunited with their owners.

IN THE FUTURE, MAKE SURE YOUR PETS ARE WEARING PROPER ID TAGS AND ARE MICRO-CHIPPED OR TATOOED. PETS ARE RETURNED TO THEIR OWNERS MORE OFTEN WHEN WEARING PROPER IDENTIFICATION.

Found Pets

• Bring stray pets to the closest shelter if it is safe to handle them. Otherwise, call your local animal control officer for pick-up. Stray cats should be confined in carriers or a secure box to avoid any injuries.
• If you chose to "baby-sit" the pet until its owner is found, notify all the local agencies with a complete description.
• Place "Found Pet" ad in local newspaper.
• Check "Lost Pet" ad in local paper.
• Call local radio station to place a "Found Pet" report.