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Found a pet? Take these steps!

 

Even if you want to keep the pet that you found, by law you must make an effort to look for her rightful owner. Follow these steps to attempt to reunite a lost pet with her owner.

1. Check for ID

Check to see if the pet has a name and contact on their collar. If not, get her scanned for a microchip. Any veterinary clinic will have a chip reader, as will most police stations. If it is after business hours, look up your closest. There will not be a charge to scan for a microchip. If a microchip is found, you can use this website to look up which microchip company to call.

2. Report to officials as found

Broward Animal Care requests that you report the pet you found on 24Petconnect. 

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​You can also check our list of cities in Broward to see if your city takes found animal reports. 

3. Check social media to see if the pet has been reported LOST.

Check online to see if the pet has been reported lost by its owner.

4. No luck? Report as FOUND on social media. 

Get a clear photo of the pet. If they have a unique characteristic such as a spotted belly or odd-colored toe, you may want to keep that hidden in the photo for potential owners to identify. 

 

Then list the pet as found on social media. 

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Need a cage to keep the pet safe while you are looking for her owner?

Good Karma Pet Pantry can help with supplies you may need to keep the found pet safe & healthy while you are looking for her owner or a new home, such as a dog crate, food bowls, or a litter box. Contact them for assistance.​

Have an owner step forward to claim the pet?

GET PROOF!

Before you hand over the pet, don't just take their word for it! Sadly there are dishonest people who will try to claim pets that aren't theirs... to keep, to sell, to use for fighting. Ask for proof of ownership.

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  • Vet records: Ask for veterinary records showing that they are the owner of the pet.

  • Ask for photos of their pet and compare them carefully to the pet you found to make sure everything matches - facial patterns, paw colors, eye color, etc. 

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Did they provide proof of ownership?

If someone does have proof, give the pet to them! Even if your neighbor now wants the pet, or you want to keep him... by law, you need to return the pet to its rightful owner. 

If you feel a pet has been abused or neglected and fear for their safety returning them, you can contact an attorney to see what your options are.

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Did they say they are unable to provide proof of ownership?

If someone does not have proof showing ownership of the pet, you should not give the pet to them. If they get aggressive, you can advise them to contact the police department. The police will not and cannot force you to give a pet to someone who is claiming ownership but has no proof, but the police can advise them of what to do if they continue to insist the pet is theirs without any proof.

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has no owner come forward?

If no owner has come forward, you have some options.

1. keep her.

1. Get her vetted!

Take them to your veterinarian to make sure she is healthy. Get her vaccinated and dewormed. Make an appointment to get her "speutered" if she is not already sterilized. Oh yeah, and make sure you get her microchipped! You never want her to be a lost pet again! 

Don't have a vet? Use our vet care page to find low-cost options. 

2. Live happy ever after.

Enjoy having your new best friend. Pat yourself on the back for helping a homeless pet. 

2. find a home for her.

 

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Visit our Rehoming a Pet page.

Use our advice to advertise for a new home and screen interested pet parents to ensure you are turning your found pet over to a safe forever home.

3. find a rescue to take her.

 

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Visit our South Florida Rescues page.

Use email, phone, and/or Facebook to reach out to the appropriate rescues from the page to see if they can take in the found pet for their adoption program. Tips and other good things to keep in mind:

  • Be nice. Most rescuers are already doing pretty much as much as they possibly can, and also inundated all day, every day with more sad animals that need help. We would take in every animal if we could, but are limited with the kennel or foster space we have available.

  • Most work in most rescues is done by volunteers, often during evenings/weekends. Have a little patience when waiting for a response. You can always reach out again, but do not act angry or rude in your communication about not havin heard back. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, but only if the wheel isn't mean! ;) 

  • Most rescuers prefer to communicate via email or text. If they have a phone number, you can leave a message, but make sure you follow up with a text or email. If they answer you by text or email, do not demand a phone call; phone calls usually take a lot longer than emails or texts and rescuers are often trying to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time. 

  • Provide as much information about the pet as you can regarding temperament, size, behavior, and how she acts around people, dogs, and cats. Include a photo in your written communication. 

  • If you are able to take the pet to your veterinarian and start the vaccination/vetting process, it's much appreciated.

  • Most rescues are doing a lot of work with not much money, money they have to work very hard to get donated. A donation to the rescue who takes in your  found pet is appreciated and suggested. A social media share to your friends sharing with they did is also appreciated.

4. take to a local shelter.

 

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If you have no other option, take to your local shelter. 

If, for whatever reason, you cannot house the animal that you found or have attempted to find her a home but can't, you can take to a local animal shelter. They will hold for about 3-5 days for a "stray hold" to give the original owners an opportunity to find them, and then if they are candidates for adoption, they will vet them, fix them, and offer them up for adoption. 

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Broward: https://www.broward.org/Animal/Pages/Default.aspx 

Miami-Dade: https://www.miamidade.gov/global/animals/home.page

Palm Beach: https://discover.pbcgov.org/publicsafety/animalcare/pages/default.aspx

 

Although lots of animals find their forever homes at local animal shelters, we consider this the last option if at all possible for several reasons:

  • Shelters have a lot of animals in a confined area, which makes for a stressful environment.

    • A dog who may be perfectly friendly out of a shelter may exhibit behavior issues in a shelter environment which will scare off adopters. The longer a pet stays at the shelter, the worse these stress-related issues will become.

    • A dog or cat who is healthy going into the shelter will become stressed, which inhibits their immune system, and they can get very sick with simple infections that can become fatal in a shelter environment. 

  • There are contagious diseases floating around shelters. Since your found pet has an unknown vaccine history, they may be completely unprotected from potentially fatal diseases like parvovirus and panleukopenia. 

  • Shelters in South Florida are often at or over capacity, meaning they do not have space or resources for more pets. They do the best with what they have, but they cannot create more space or more staff, meaning your found pet may be euthanized after a hold period (allowing for their owner to find them), or another pet who has been at the facility longer may be euthanized to make space. 

 

Our county shelters are an important safety net for the pets in our community. However, it should be reserved for the pets that absolutely need that safety net. if you can keep a pet from ever having to go to the shelter, you will help both that pet and the other pets who need the shelter because no one like you is willing to help them!

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