What to do immediately after your pet goes missing:

Walk the neighborhood: Take a walk around the immediate area and speak to any neighbors, postal service workers, landscapers, or anyone who may have seen your lost pet. You know your pet best, so look in areas that your pet may have been interested in or comfortable hiding in. Most pets are found close to home.

Share their scent: Put a couple of your pet’s favorite items near the most common entry ways into your home. The front door and the door into your yard would be the best locations. You can include items like their favorite bed, blanket, toys, their litterbox (if cat) and any other items they use frequently. Their scents may help them find their way home.

Next Steps:

1. Check the stray hold page daily. Click here to view this page on our website. The KHS website is updated in real time. If your pet is in the shelter, it will show on the stray hold page first (5-9 days for a pet with a microchip, and 2 days for a pet without any ID). After that, the animal will transfer to the adoptable animals’ pages on the website.

2. Fill out the missing pet form.

3. Search for your lost dog or cat on Petco Love Lost: We have partnered with Petco Love Lost to easily help search the national lost and found database and create a searchable/shareable alert for your missing pet. Upload a picture of your pet or searching by location. Powered by facial recognition technology, Petco Love Lost helps match found animals to reported lost pets nationwide. Visit Petco Love Lost and search now!

If you haven’t done so already, be sure to register your pet on Petco Love Lost to do things like create a Lost listing that can be shared and print out premade fliers. You can also receive fliers via text message or email.

4. Use the sharing features on Petco Love Lost to distribute your lost pet listing on other social media outlets like Facebook, Craigslist, and Nextdoor.

5. Make sure your pet’s microchip information is updated: If a finder takes your missing pet to be scanned for a microchip, you want to make sure that all the information is correct so that you will be contacted immediately.

6. Continue to spread the word about your missing pet: Make sure any posters or fliers made are large and bright with only relevant information on it. Place in high traffic areas and in the vicinity of where your lost pet went missing. Click here to have your pet’s photo and info aired on Hoike Community T.V.

7. Don’t give up! Finding a lost pet can take time. Remember to regularly check websites that you have posted your lost pet on and make updates as needed. New lost and found pets are added regularly to Petco Love Lost and to your local shelters.

Advertise!

• Create a flyer: A flyer with a clear, large photo of your pet’s face and body, your phone number, last known location, and a short description to help identify the dog is best.  Words should be legible from a passing car. Pawboost, PetFBI, and FindToto all have great free templates.
• Use the Michelson Found Animals’ Missing Pet Flyer Generator to quickly create a missing pet flyer here. 
• Please bring your flyer to KHS and post around where you lost your pet.
• Post online:
  • Facebook – community sites such as Kauai Buy and Sell & Kauai Lost and Found
  • Instagram – community sites and outreach
  • Contact local media for shout-outs or ads – Kong Radio, H. Hawaii Media
  • Craigslist
  • Neighborhood apps like Nextdoor

Preventing Lost Pets from Staying Lost

The best method of reuniting lost pets with owners is IDENTIFICATION.

All animals who enter the Humane Society are scanned for microchips. Owners will also be quickly called if a dog or cat has a collar with identification or a current county license. Keeping microchip and license information up to date at KHS is critical to helping us find you if your pet ends up at the shelter. Changes may be made via email at customerservice@kauaihumane.org, or over the phone.

If KHS has your pet, what happens?

Stray animals who enter the shelter without identification are held for 48 hours before becoming available for adoption or transfer. Stray animals with identification such as a microchip or license tag are held for nine days (dogs) or five days (cats), and KHS staff will both phone the registered owner and send a notice of impound to the address on record. Owners must reclaim before the end of the ninth day at the shelter or the pet is presumed to be abandoned and will be made available for adoption or transfer if medically and behaviorally suitable. Please note that KHS cannot reclaim your dog once it has been legally adopted or transferred.

Due to our capacity issues, if your pet is in the shelter, you may come without appointment to pick up your pet. Although, an appointment is preferred by emailing customerservice@kauaihumane.org.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ANIMALS ON STRAY HOLD

Found Pets

If you have found a dog or cat that does not belong to you, we recommend taking the following steps:

1. Check for visible forms of identification, such as an ID tag, license, or phone number on a collar. Please try to reach the owner via that contact information.
2. If there is no way to reach the owner, please make an appointment to bring the animal to KHS so we can scan him or her for a microchip or look up the license number and contact information. Our goal is to reunite the pets with their owners ASAP.
3. You can also check social media to see if anyone has reported the pet missing or lost.

If you have found kittens, please see the below flowchart.

• It is vital that small kittens stay with their mother. Removing them from their nesting place could cause them serious harm, including death.
• Please only bring kittens to KHS if you are absolutely sure they have been abandoned by the mother.