1. Contact local animal shelters and animal control agencies. File a lost pet report with every shelter near your home and visit the nearest shelters daily. Also, notify local veterinarian offices. Be sure to provide these agencies with an accurate description and a recent photograph of your pet. Notify the police if you believe your pet was stolen.

2. Search the neighborhood. Walk or drive through your neighborhood several times each day. Ask neighbors, letter carriers, and delivery people if they have seen your pet. Hand out a recent photograph of your pet and information on how you can be reached if your pet is found.

3. Advertise- Post notices at grocery stores, community centers, veterinary offices, traffic intersections, at pet supply stores, and other locations. Also, place advertisements in newspapers and with radio stations. Include your pet's sex, age, weight, breed, color, and any special markings. When describing your pet, leave out one identifying characteristic and ask the person who finds your pet to describe it.

4. Try the internet. These sites may be able to help you out:
Center for Lost Pets
Fido Finder
Craig’s List
local facebook pages


5. Be wary of pet-recovery scams. When talking to a stranger who claims to have found your pet, ask him to describe the pet thoroughly before you offer any information. If he does not include the identifying characteristic you left out of the advertisements, he may not really have your pet. Be particularly wary of people who insist that you give or wire them money for the return of your pet. If you are meeting someone, be sure to do so in a public place such as a police station.

6. Keep a log of incoming calls. Note the person's name, time/date of call, phone number and exact location of where they spotted your lost pet. 

7. Don't give up your search. Animals who have been lost for months have been reunited with their owners.