LOST PETS

• Visit and revisit our Found Pets Page 
• Complete the Lost Pet Report, make sure you include a picture!!  After you file a Lost Pet Report, staff will check lost pet reports for any possible matches and call if there is a match. Please be advised the information you provide in this report is open to the public on the lost pets page.
• Create a lost pet report including photos. Distribute to neighbors, veterinarians, shelters, and pet groomers
• Check a large radius of shelters, your pet may have traveled or been relocated by a well-meaning citizen. Your pet should be turned into the city where it was found, not the city where  you live or where your pet is microchipped.
• Visit shelters in person frequently (2-3 times per week). Holding periods for found animals can vary between 3-10 days. Be sure to call before showing up so you arrive during open hours – each shelter operates independently and hours vary.
• If you've seen your dog act afraid of anything, DO NOT call your dog if you see him. Calling out to a dog can send them into "fight or flight" mode. Instead, visit the Missing Animal Response Network page  to learn how to use calming signals to calm and attract your dog to come to you.
• Visit Missing Animal Response Network and Helping Lost Pets for more tools.
• Stray animals without identification at our shelter are held for a minimum of 4 shelter business days and animals with a license are held a minimum of 10 calendar days.

SPREAD THE WORD!

• Create giant neon posters/flyers and put them around the area where your pet was lost as well as where you live. Instructions on how to make these posters can be found at Missing Animal Response Network. 
• If you've lost a cat, we have some excellent information about the difference between how an indoor-only cat behaves when it escapes outside compared to an outdoor-access cat that suddenly vanishes. You can find detailed information on last cat behavior and recovery tips by visiting Missing Animal Response Network. 
• Use PawBoost to get the word out in the community!
• Contact your pet’s microchip company.
• If you don’t know your pet’s microchip number your pet’s veterinarian should have it on file.
• Talk to neighbors, go door-to-door and post flyers at local shops.
• Post on social media - Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor, Craigslist, Instagram, Pawboost, and Petco Love Lost  
• Check websites such as PetFinder, PetHarbor, Petango and Craigslist. Petco Love Lost uses facial recognition technology and searches found pet postings from participating shelters throughout the country to help locate missing pets.
• If you are offering a reward - When describing your pet, it is suggested that you leave out one identifying characteristic so people need to prove they actually have your animal. There is a safe exchange zone in front of the Fremont Police Department, let someone know where you are and what you are doing.
• Call local veterinary offices in case your pet may have been injured and brought in for care

DON’T GIVE UP!

• Animals can wander and survive for weeks before being helped by a human.

FOUND PETS

• If you have found a stray but wish to hold onto the animal, Fremont City Ordinance requires that the finder notify the animal shelter within eight hours. Notify us that you have found a stray animal by completing a Found Pet Report. Please note this report is not a request for service, and if the animal is brought to the shelter, notify staff you filed a Found Pet Report to avoid creating a duplicate record of the animal.
• Walk the pet around your neighborhood, most owners are frantically looking for their pet.
• Create giant, neon FOUND DOG or FOUND CAT posters and put them up at major intersections near where you found the animal. Instructions on how to make these posters can be found at Missing Animal Response Network.
• Have it scanned for a microchip at a veterinarian or animal shelter. If the veterinarian finds a microchip, call the shelter with the full microchip number and have them research the microchip. Shelter staff has the ability to get full owner information, a veterinarian’s information is limited.
• If you have found a stray animal but wish to hold onto the animal, Fremont City Ordinance requires that the finder notify the animal shelter within eight hours
• Please call the shelter to schedule an appointment to drop it off.
• Domestic animals are property and accidents happen, please do not judge the pet’s owners, there are so many scenarios about pets getting lost. Their owner is most likely despondent.
• If you have kept the found animal for approximately 30 days, it is now considered your property and you are responsible for licensing and caring for it
• There is no after-hours drop box available at the shelter

IF THE ANIMAL IS INJURED

• Immediately take the animal to a local emergency clinic

 POST FLYERS / USE THE INTERNET

• Post on social media - Facebook, Twitter, Nextdoor, Craigslist, Instagram, Pawboost, Finding Rover  
• Create a found pet flyer including photos. Distribute to neighbors, veterinarians, shelters, and pet groomers
• Petco Love Lost has a facial recognition tool where you can use a photo to search a national lost and found database for your missing pet.

FOUND YOUR PET AT OUR SHELTER?

• E-mail us at AnimalShelter@fremont.gov and call 510-790-6640 to set up an appointment to reunite with your pet.
• To reclaim your pet, you must have personal identification, your pet’s records (license, rabies certificate), a photograph of your pet, and be at least 18 years old.
• Fees for service will be charged to claim your pet.