Lost Your Pet?
A lost pet can be a frightening experience for any pet parent. Immediate action is crucial, but where do you start? Follow the steps below for the best chance of a reunion.
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:
Contact us to report the lost pet by phone or by Facebook message. We will need as much information about your pet as possible including age, description, breed, color, tags, and distinguish marks as well as the name and contact information of the owner. Photographs are preferable. We will post a photo, description and contact information of the owner on Facebook. We will also keep this information on file at the shelter for up to a year.
Search for your lost dog or cat on Petco Love Lost: MCAR has partnered with Petco Love Lost to help you easily search their national lost and found database and create a searchable/shareable alert for your missing pet. Upload a 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!
Use the sharing features on Petco Love Lost to distribute your lost pet listing on other social media outlets like Facebook, Craigslist, and Nextdoor.
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.
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.
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.
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 are brought to Mitchell County Animal Rescue. If you have lost your pet or found a stray animal, please make contacting MCAR a priority. Call us, and/or send us a message (preferably with a photo) by email or via Facebook. We frequently have people posting photos of lost & found animals to our Facebook page, so it is a great place to start! When strays are brought in to us, we will post them there as well.
If a pet is found
Animals found can be turned in to the shelter. They will be immediately posted on Facebook to notify the public in an effort to find the owner. In accordance with NC law, the animal will be kept in quarantine for 72 hours waiting the owner to claim him/her. If after that time no one claims them, they become the property of MCAR and they will be spay/neutered, and placed up for adoption. If you find a pet but want to keep him/her at your home, please send photos and information to us and we will do a courtesy "found pet" post for you.
In order to recover your lost pet from the shelter
Be prepared to pay our fee for care and to show proof of ownership. Documentation would include matching photographs, vet records, microchip information, etc.
Stray Animal Policy
There is no animal control officer in Mitchell County to pick up strays. Therefore, we have to rely on individuals in the community to bring strays to the shelter. Whenever possible, we ask that you call us before coming with a stray or abandoned animal. All animals turned in to the shelter will be immediately posted on Facebook to notify the public in order to find the owner.
In accordance with NC law, any stray animal will be kept in quarantine for 72 hours awaiting the owner to claim him/her. If after that time no one claims them, they become the property of MCAR and they will be spay/neutered, and placed up for adoption. In order to reclaim a stray pet as your own, be prepared to show proof of ownership such as matching photographs, vet records, microchip information. You will also be charged a fee for your pet’s care.
REPEAT OFFENDERS AS STRAYS
This section refers to each specific animal being turned in or picked up as a stray. Change of ownership and or address does not nullify charges. The following rules apply when an animal is brought into the shelter as a stray multiple times in 365 days.
First time stray reclaim of animal: Within 72 hours, owner picks up and is required to pay the Return to Owner Fee and Vaccination and Meds reimbursement. $10 per vaccine and other fees to be determined by staff.
Second time stray reclaim: within 72 hours, owners pay a Return to Owner fee of $25.00
Third time stray reclaim: owners pay Return to Owner fee of $100 OR do the adoption paperwork and get pet fixed/chipped, etc if the pet is not currently altered.
If a pet is turned in as a stray more than three times in a year, a $250 fine will be owed each time the pet is brought in.