A missing dog, cat or other pet needs a clear report, reliable sightings and the right local contacts. This guide brings together established resources in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, with practical steps you can use in other countries too.
These are independent services with their own coverage, rules and availability. A listing here does not mean a partnership or an endorsement by those organizations.
Write down the last confirmed place and time the pet was seen. Add a recent, clear photograph, the pet’s name, species, markings and a way for people to reach you. Separate a confirmed sighting from a guess, and keep a dated record when new information arrives. Use the same description across your reports so helpers can recognize the animal.
Contact the municipal animal service, shelters, rescue organizations and veterinary clinics that serve the location where the pet disappeared. Ask how they record found animals and how often you should check back. Tell the microchip registry that the animal is missing and make sure your contact information is current. A chip identifies an animal when it is scanned; it does not provide live GPS tracking.
Keep exact addresses, private phone numbers and sensitive sighting details out of open comment threads when they are not needed. Verify the identity of anyone claiming to have your pet before sharing more information or sending money. If an animal is frightened, avoid chasing or crowding it; report the observation and coordinate a calm response.
Start with your local animal service and the shelters serving your municipality. Humane Canada’s member network is a national point of reference for humane societies and SPCAs. In Winnipeg, the Winnipeg Humane Society’s lost-and-found guidance explains local reporting steps. Check the organization’s current instructions before bringing in a found animal.
Petco Love Lost offers a pet-search resource using photographs to help connect lost and found reports. Pet FBI provides a lost-and-found database and recovery information. Use these alongside your local shelter and animal-control reports. Posting to one database does not automatically notify every local organization.
For a missing dog in England or Wales, use the government’s council missing-dog lookup to find the relevant local service. The RSPCA’s lost-pet advice provides additional search guidance. For Scotland or Northern Ireland, find the appropriate council and animal-welfare organization; the government lookup linked here has a narrower regional scope.
Report through your local council or pound and check with nearby shelters and veterinary clinics. In New South Wales, RSPCA NSW’s lost-and-found animal guidance explains regional options. Other states and territories have their own services, so use the instructions for the place where the pet was last seen.
The New Zealand Companion Animal Register’s LostPet service is a place to check lost and found animal information. Also contact the local council’s animal-management team, nearby shelters and veterinary clinics. Confirm that the animal’s microchip record uses contact details you can currently access.
Look for the official municipal animal service, a recognized local shelter and the country’s relevant microchip registry. Search using the local place name and language. Ask each organization which reporting system it actually monitors, and keep checking found-animal listings as new animals are brought in.
PawTrace provides free Canadian missing-pet reports and private sightings. Create a pet profile, publish a missing-pet alert, and keep new observations connected to the search. Sighting details, locations and photographs are private to the person submitting the sighting and the pet’s owner.
HOGUE DRONE SERVICES is based in Winnipeg. Drone-assisted field searches are assessed separately for Manitoba, subject to availability, site access and flight conditions. An online report does not automatically dispatch a drone, and a search cannot guarantee recovery.
For a Manitoba field-search inquiry, call 204-955-8328 or text Eric. Use the regional resources above for local help elsewhere.
