IF YOU HAVE FOUND A PET:

• Check with everyone you come across to see if they know the pet, including neighbors, the postman, newspaper deliverer, meter reader, pool men, gardeners, trash collectors, school crossing guards.   Give them a found flyer with a picture of the found pet.   For dogs, securely leash the dog and walk around the neighborhood, knock on doors, asking neighbors if they know the pets owner.
• Take the pet to a nearby veterinary office, and ask that they check the pet for a microchip.  They can assist you in calling the 24 hour hotline for the microchip company, which can provide you with the owner's contact information.
• Post flyers with the pets photo and your number.    Do not write too much; people need to be able to see the photo and the telephone number.   Do not put your name or address.   Be sure to post flyers at all local intersections, businesses, and veterinary offices.   Post at each entrance and exit of all nearby neighborhoods at eye level.  REPOST every few days as the flyers are regularly removed by city workers.
• Run an ad in the found section of the newspaper. There is no charge for this good samaritan service.                    Run the ad for 2 weeks to allow owners who might be away an opportunity to claim their pet. List only a brief description of the pet, and the city where the pet was found.   Leave out certain identifying information about the pet, so the rightful owner can prove ownership.   This would include information such as whether the pet had a collar on (although collars and tags can come off), the color of the collar, the gender of the dog or cat, whether it is spayed/neutered, and any other special features or markings.                                                                           The OC Register is 714-796-7000.  The Daily Pilot is 714-966-4600. Call your local Pennysaver.     
• Leave a description of the found pet and your contact information with the AAL Helpline at 714-891- PETS or 714-891-7387. Include the area and date that the pet was found. AAL will contact you if someone calls with a lost pet matching the pets description.
• Contact the  local shelters.    See listing of Orange County shelters below.  Be aware that 67% of dogs and 97% of cats are not reclaimed by owners in shelters.   Due to lack of space and enormous numbers of animals, shelters are forced to euthanize a majority of these pets.  Some shelters in California euthanize over 90% of all animals. For those who are able to hold onto the pet while attempting to find the owner, AAL and other organizations can assist with placement if the pet is not reclaimed after reasonable effort has been made.            If you turn a lost pet into the shelter,  you may ask for the impound number and to be listed as a "first hold" for the pet in the event that it is not reclaimed by the owner.  This will allow you to adopt it or contact rescue organizations in the meantime, to facilitate the pet's rescue.
• Words of warning:   NEVER respond to a "lost" pet caller alone.  Take someone with you and arrange to meet in a public place.   Don't invite the person to your home.                                                                          Make the caller identify the pet.  Require that they give you their veterinarian's phone number to call to verify that they own the found pet.  If they cannot describe the pet accurately, cannot provide a veterinary contact, and cannot provide photos as proof, it is possible that they are not be the pets owner!    There are people in and near Orange County who call on found pets who are not the pet owners, but instead sell the pets to bunchers collecting for research labs.  Special purebreds are also at risk for con artists calling to claim an expensive breed as their own. 

ORANGE COUNTY SHELTERS:

Orange County Animal Care Services in Orange 714-935-6848   

Photos of incoming animals are uploaded every 30 minutes on their website www.ocpetinfo.com

Mission Viejo Animal Shelter                                                  949-470-3045 

San Clemente/Dana Point Animal Services                         949-492-1617

Irvine Animal Care Center serves Irvine 949-724-7740

Costa Mesa City Animal Control                                             714-754-5311

Laguna Beach Animal Shelter                                                949-497-3552

Newport Beach/Corona Del Mar Animal Control                 949-644-3717

Orange County Humane Society in Huntington Beach        714-536-8480

   This shelter takes in lost animals from Westminster

Westminster Animal Control                          714-898-3315

Santa Ana Animal Control                                                      714-245-8792

Seal Beach Animal Care Center                                             562-430-4993

ONLINE RESOURCES FOR LOST & FOUND PETS, INCLUDING POSTING PET INFORMATION:

www.dogdetective.com, www.find-a-pet.org, www.lostandfound.com, www.lostdogsdatabase.com, www.missingpets.com, www.petrecovery.com,   www.petfinder.org, www.pet-detective.com, www.awolpet.com