The biggest nightmare for anyone who owns a pet. Losing your pet! What all can you do when your pet is missing. Read the tips and tricks here:
DISTRIBUTE POSTERS
Distribute posters and flyers with the description and a photo of the animal, place and date of missing and your own contact information. Hang the posters in places where many people come. Think of the bus or streetcar stop, the train station, the supermarket, the bottle bank, the mailbox, the ATM. For completeness, we mention that in some municipalities and natural areas posters may not be hung. This could even result in a fine in extreme cases. Posters may, however, be put in the mailbox of houses without a No/No sticker. Good luck with distributing the posters!
SOCIAL MEDIA
Also report the missing cat, kitty, dog or other animal via social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Ask people to follow along, provide information about the animal's appearance along with a good photo and the place/street of missing.
SEARCH PLACES
Search garages, storerooms and gardens in the immediate area. During renovations and chores, search well under floors and behind newly installed items such as kitchen blocks and walls. Call neighbors and ask the owner if you can take a look in their storage room, shed or garage. Bring a flashlight with you on this search!
ASYLUM
Call or visit the nearby shelter. Bring photos or the poster of your missing pet so they can put it up there.
ANIMAL AMBULANCE
The animal ambulance can tell you if the missing cat may have had an accident. If not, notify them of the missing cat as well.
OLD ADDRESS
Have you just moved house? If so, contact the new residents at your old address. Cats often run back to their old home. If you have good contact with your old neighbors, inform them about the missing cat as well and ask them to look out for your missing pet. Distribute the poster around your old address as well.
CALLING AND MAKING NOISES
Call your cat when it is quiet and peaceful outside. For example, in the evenings or early in the morning. He will then be less scared and respond faster. Make sounds that the cat normally responds to. For example, rattle a pack of kibble. A cat will not always respond immediately to your calls, especially if it has been away from home for some time, or is injured or sick. Therefore, take your time with this. Repeat calling and rattling several times in a row with appropriate intervals of silence, so you can hear the cat when it does respond.
LAST SEEING
Dogs often go back to where they last saw their owner. Leave something there that they recognize (put the car there, for example, or leave something with the scent of home).
TREES
Don't forget to look up into trees to see if the cat may have sought safety there. This applies to trees in the backyard, but certainly also to trees on the street.
LOCATION
If the missing cat is one that has never been outside, you can create a decoy spot. Put three containers at the point where he disappeared from the house: water, food and dirty pee pellets (possibly from fellow cats). In addition, put a box or crate on its side so the cat can seek protection and put a worn piece of clothing of yours in there. Keep this up for at least a week. When your animal is found, don't forget to report it to all the authorities where you reported it missing.
CHIPPING AND REGISTRATION WITH NOLONGERLOST
If an animal is chipped and registered, authorities can easily contact the owner if an animal is found. Is your animal not chipped? Then we advise you to have your pet tagged with a NoLongerLost tag. This speeds up the search in the event of a subsequent loss. When your pet is found, not just anyone can read the chip. That's why we always advise you to provide your pet with a NoLongerLost tag. Anyone with a mobile camera can scan the tag, putting you in direct contact with the pet's owner.
