An Organization Dedicated To Supporting Local Pets In Finding New Homes

• Call your local Animal Control to find out whether your pet has been picked up in your neighborhood, or if any animals have been picked up injured, or dead.
• Make frequent visits to all your local Animal Shelters. You have only a small window of time to reclaim your pet. Make sure to ask about sick and injured animals in the back.
• Meet your neighbors and personally ask them to call you if they see your pet.
• Check your city's laws before making and distributing flyers. Blowing papers are seen as trash.
• Contact The Animal Network to help search for your lost pet. (fee for 500 personalized missing animal flyers delivered to your neighborhood doorsteps)
• List your pet in THE NETWORK's Missing Pet Directory.
• Advertise your lost pet in your local city paper and The Orange County Register has free ads (714.647.6866 ext 2) and The Los Angeles Times charges for ads (714.846.3762 ext 13) most will run a free advertisement for lost pets for 3 days.
• Don't give up, your actions will help your cat be found!
• THE NETWORK's successful experiences indicate a cat missing for three months may be only 4-7 blocks away and after six months a distance of 10-12 blocks, usually being fed by a "Good Samaritan".
• Microchip Your Next Pet! Talk With Your Vet About Insertion. All animal control officers scan all animals during the impound process for microchips. This is one way to insure your pet will be returned to you if it enters a shelter nation wide! 

What to do if your cat is missing

Cats can be particularly difficult to find, as they scare easily and have a tendency to hide. They tend not to approach strangers and can remain in hiding for days. Here are some tips on how to find your missing cat.

• Walk through your neighborhood between 10pm and midnight or between 5am and 6am. Your neighborhood is quieter at these times which encourages cats to come out of hiding. It is also easier to hear sounds that are normally obscured by traffic noise.
• Call your cat's name and shake dry food in a cup as you walk in search of your cat.
• Listen carefully to any sounds that you may hear.
• Take a flash light to scan beneath bushes, in trees, under steps and under cars.
• Other lost cats may follow you. Take note of the details on their tags and report them to THE NETWORK.
• Remember to take along a notepad, pen and reading glasses. You can help to recover other lost cats in your community!

• Refer all found animals to your local Animal Shelter. This is the first place their owner will look for them! Many lost animals are not found simply because a "Good Samaritan" did not connect with the city's animal control and either keep the pet or give it to someone else. Municipal shelters scan for microchip identification which increases the chances of the owner finding their missing pet.
• To "safeguard" the found animal, always get the impound number so you can phone and inquire about the animal.
• Give your name and contact information to the animal control officer so you would be contacted if the animal's life would be at risk and be scheduled to be put to sleep.
• Help to get the animal adopted by telling your friends and people at work about them.
• Keep checking our Missing Pet Directory to help search for the pet's owner.
• Your local city paper and The Orange County Register (714.647.6866 ext 2) and The Los Angeles Times (714.846.3762 ext 13) will run a free advertisement for found pets.
• If you are contacted by the shelter, pick up the animal and then let CAN's help promote the pet for adoption. (a small listing fee is required)
• You CAN make all the difference to a lost pet's life!

What you can do to make it easier to get your pet back

• Ask your veterinarian about microchip identification. The microchip is inserted under the pet's skin by a veterinarian. Animal control Officers scan for microchip identification during the impounding process. If a microchip is found the shelter calls you to pick up your lost pet! But, remember to keep all phone numbers updated with your vet and microchip company. 
• Keep a collar and tag with current contact details on your pet at all times.
• Take some good photographs of your pet every year. You may need to use a whole roll of film to get a couple of good shots.
• Take the photographs in a well lit area with a contrasting background color. For big dogs, drape a solid colored sheet over a door or a fence for the backdrop. For cats or small dogs, drape the sheet over a couch or a big sofa chair. Use a light colored sheet for a dark colored pet, and a dark sheet for a light colored pet.
• Kneel down to take the photograph at the same level as the pet.
• Keep people and furniture out of the photograph.

Always spay, neuter, microchip, collar and tag your pets.