What To Do if You Find a Lost Dog

Dogs

Did you find a loose dog? First of all, thank you for getting involved and probably saving his life. Secondly, no matter what condition he's in, assume that he's lost, not stray.

Many dogs can stay lost on the streets for weeks, months, and even years, so move forward with the assumption that you've found someone's lost dog, and it's your job to reunite them. But how?

Well, here's a rundown of what you should do, all based on my real-life case experience and current lost dog recovery standards:

1. Take at least one photo (but more if you can). Get photos of any special markings the dog may have.

2. Secure the dog with a leash or in a crate, or by getting him into a car, garage, or house. A yard will work in a pinch, but a dog in this state is often extremely frightened, and can easily hop a fence or dig under it (even if you think he can't).

3. Call the number on the dog's ID tag. If there is no ID tag, but there is a rabies tag or a city dog license, contact the number on that tag--they should be able to help you find the owner. You may have to do a web search for the agency name if there is no phone number on the tag.

4. If there are no tags of any kind, take the dog to the closest shelter, vet, or groomer, and ask them to do a full body scan with a Universal scanner (there are 3 kinds of chips and corresponding scanners).

• If a microchip number comes up, the facility will be able to plug it into a database and find out who the dog belongs to. Most facilities will not release the chip number to you, but if they do, you can look it up yourself here and contact the owners.
• If, after plugging the microchip number into the database, no information is found, it means the owners didn't register it.
• Important: many owners realize or are told once their dog becomes lost that they need to register information to their microchip. So if at first there is no information attached to the chip, wait a day or two and have the dog rescanned. If still nothing, keep trying every day for as long as you have the dog. The information could suddenly appear!