As a pet owner, one of the worst nightmares you usually dread is coming home to find your pet missing. Whether you have a dog or a cat, as long as you cannot figure out where they are, panic usually sets in for a lot of people.
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However, it is advisable that you do not panic. Instead, you should take quick action and start looking for your pet. With proper networking in the neighborhood, there is a good chance that you will find your pet sooner than you had thought.
The secret behind looking for a lost pet is to have as many people as possible on the lookout with a lost pet flyer. For a lost pet, identification is the easiest way to save yourself and the pet from unknown danger. As a precautionary measure, always try to have a collar on your pet. The collar should keep information like the following:
- Your name
- Your contact information
- Your contact details (phone number)
In case you decide to microchip your pet, ensure that you always keep your information up to date with the microchip company. In case you change any of the details registered when you got the pet microchipped, like your address or you move to a new town, make sure you contact the company to make the necessary changes too.
Another thing that people barely ever realize is that lost dog flyer templates are not just sent out by people who have lost their pets. In case you come across a pet and no one seems to have claimed it yet, you can also print out some posters and share them around in the hope that you can get the attention of the owner.
Lost Dog Flyers
Useful lost dog flyer, pet poster tips
Pets are quite adventurous and playful. It gets even worse if they happen to come across another playful animal and they get carried away. When you are designing a lost cat poster to help you find the missing cat, you have to be very careful with how you go about the search process.
While a lot of people would love to create lost pet flyers and send them around the neighborhood, most people do not know how to go about it. There are some simple guidelines that you can follow:
- Clear and concise contact information
- Latest picture of your pet and of its special identification, if any
- Reaching out to pet’s familiar places
Provide clear details
It is very easy for us to tell apart our pet from all the other animals that we might come across. In fact, the pets will even run towards you. However, this is not the case with people who are not aware of your pet.
When you are looking for your dog or cat and are designing a flyer, make sure it is as clear and detailed as possible. You should describe the appearance of your pet properly. Highlight any features that might distinguish them from any pet someone might come across.
Having been around the pet for a while, you might have noticed some of their tendencies in different situations. You should also highlight these so that anyone who is helping you look for your pet will know what to be looking for.
Clear photos
This is one of the most important things, and can never be emphasized more than enough times. You have to ensure the photos that you choose are of a good quality, and more importantly, they display the whole body of the cat. If there are any features of the cat that might stand out, these must also be distinguishable in the lost cat poster.
In case your photos are blurry, you might come across people who are more than willing to assist you, but they cannot do that efficiently because they cannot see the cat clearly, or tell them apart from any other.
Distributing information
Immediately you realize your dog is missing, you should work out a tentative search perimeter and focus your search efforts within that region. In most cases, it is wise to start within a 5-block radius of your home. If you do not find your pet within this radius, you can then extend the search further outwards.
Next, you should move on to any of the parks that you usually visit with your pets. Once here, you can set your posters out, and hope someone notices your pet and contacts you.
Poster Display
While it is wise to put up posters of a lost pet, it is also important to make sure you observe the cleanliness of the environment, and not end up littering all over the place. You should strike a good balance when covering a good area with your flyers so that you do not run into problems with the authorities.
This is actually important because there are certain city ordinances where flyers for lost pets are not allowed, and when they are spotted they will be removed. You might even be fined for littering the environment.
Templates
Owing to the fact that there are a lot of people who might not really have the information needed on how to come up with a good and efficient lost cat poster for their lost pets, there is a better way out for you. You can use templates that are available online.
Creating the flyer on your own might prove to be a bigger challenge than you might have envisaged in the first place. Because of this reason, it is wise to consider using a template. Templates will save you a lot of time when designing the flyer, and you will also end up with a flyer that gets the attention of people, hence helping you find your lost pet faster.
Stay calm
This is the last thing that most people will do when they cannot find their pets. Take dogs, for example. Dogs are generally friendly animals. Therefore, if they happen to stray somewhere, in most cases they are usually just having fun with the new family that has found them, especially if you have one of the very cute ones.
You might also want to check with any of the local pet shelters if they might have taken in any pets recently. You can also leave a few posters with them just in case someone brings in your pet.
Local databases
Have you searched the local database for your pet? There are a lot of organizations and individuals these days who have dedicated their time and resources towards finding lost pets and reuniting them with their families.
Before you send out your posters, you should spare some time and search through these. Even if you do not find your pet the first time, keep checking every other day, someone might just have come across them somewhere.
Rewards
There is a raging debate among pet owners and lovers about offering a reward for finding your pet. While this is a good incentive to help you get back your pet as soon as possible, it can also prove to be a major challenge, attracting scammers.
For this reason, it is usually advisable that if you choose to offer a reward for someone who helps to find your pet, do not state the amount you are offering, or what the reward is. if you do this you might easily fall prey to scammers or worse.
Get on the phone
Once you have designed your lost pet flyers, you should be ready to get on the phone and work the phones until you find your pet. You need to call the veterinary hospitals around you, any local animal control agencies and rescue groups that you know about. There is always a good chance that someone might have seen your pet, or they might have them safe somewhere.
You should also make it a point to visit shelters every other day. Go in person with photos of your lost pet. Provide as much information as possible to help find your lost pet. In case none of these facilities is available in your home area, get in touch with the police.
Using social media
Now, here is something that most people wish they had back in the day. There are so many pages on social media where you can find your lost pet. You need to start with the local social networks because chances are high that your pet could have been seen somewhere locally than in another country.
From Facebook, Twitter, you name it. All these social networks provide a good avenue for you to interact with people about your lost pet. The information you provide about them will be shared faster than you know, and you might have local sightings in a short while.
Missing Pet Posters
How to post an effective lost pet poster
When your pet is lost, distress will almost always check in. Because of this reason, you end up coming up with a lost cat poster in haste. The problem with this is that the posters you come up with in this process are mostly designed poorly.
The following guidelines will help you make sure you can post very good posters for your lost pet, and increase the chances of finding them sooner. Remember that pets also get lonely and stressed when they are in the presence of strangers.
Poster design
Practically speaking, an ideal lost pet flyer is supposed to measure around 8 x 11 inches. This is particularly if you want to spread them around conveniently.
It is wise to print the flyers in color. If you cannot do that for some reason, use colored paper instead.
For the color, it is advisable to use a yellow paper. This is because yellow is usually visible from distance, so it is easier to get the attention of would-be good Samaritans with a yellow paper flyer than a white one.
Location
Having printed out the posters and lost dog flyer templates, where will you send them? You have to be strategic with the way you display the posters or even the location.
Most people prefer to pin them on utility poles, bulletin boards, pet supply stores, traffic stops or even laundromats. You can choose whichever of these depending on how it appeals to you, or simply because of the kind of human traffic around that section.
While still on the location, in case you have a good idea or a rough idea of where the pet might have gotten lost, you should create lost cat posters that are more visible, and have them displayed around that area. Chances are high that someone might actually have seen your pet somewhere close by.
Protecting the flyer
You must make sure that you take precautions to ensure the flyers do their work. Given that they will be posted outdoors, there are so many things that could happen to the flyers. The rain could damage them, the wind could rip them apart, some people could also vandalize them for one reason or the other.
Because of this reason, it is advisable that you consider printing the flyers out on a page protector. Once that is done, tape the flyers onto a poster board that is colored brightly so that you can get the attention of a lot of people passing by.
For the important information on the lost dog flyer template like your contacts, ensure you are using a black marker, if possible, an indelible one. If you feel you need to, fasten the with duct tape or nails to a pole.
Responding to a missing pet
Immediately you realize your pet is not at home, get anyone you know in the vicinity and ask them if and where they last saw you’re pet. Before you venture outside looking for your pet, search the house and make sure they are not inside. Look in dark places, behind furniture, in closets and under the bed.
Another option that would alert your pet in case they are in the vicinity would be to shake their food dish or anything else that they are used to, like the food jar or their favorite play toys. Once you have figured your pet is not in the house, take your time and walk around the neighborhood, looking for them. It would also be wise to carry a recent photo of the pet, just in case any of your neighbors or anyone you come across might have seen the pet.
What happens when I find my pet?
There are a lot of people who have used a lost dog flyer template to help them find their lost pets and so many others who just got lucky and followed the directions of good Samaritans until they found their pets. It feels so good to be reunited.
While you might be elated at seeing your dog or cat, remember that this is an animal that has been in unfamiliar territory from the time you lost them, and they have probably been too scared, anxious and so forth.
When you see your dog, for example, it is usually advisable that you do not look at them directly, call or even chase after them. You might end up spooking the dog and sending them into a panic attack, hence they run away scared, or onto oncoming traffic. The following tips should guide you accordingly as you try to reunite with your pet without scaring them in the process:
Calm down
Stay calm. Be very patient and allow the dog time to recognize who you are, snap out of their hysteria and come towards you. You should only bring out the collar once your dog/cat shows signs of recognition and have calmed down.
Reduce the threat
Pets that are lost usually feel threatened. You are supposed to try and minimize the threat they feel they are going through. To do this, kneel down on the ground and drop their food for them to realize who you are, and come to you.
In case this is not working, lie down on the ground. For dogs, do this while making whining sounds. This appeals to them and brings out their playful side. You will actually be encouraging them to feel less threatened and more comfortable coming to you.
Important takeaways
To summarize, whenever you feel distraught, especially when you get home and cannot find your pet, there is a good chance that your cat or dog is also going through something similar, or worse. It is even more difficult for them because they cannot stop strangers and ask for directions to your house, or ask them what bus to take back home.
With a lost dog flyer template, it is easier for you to create a flyer and send them out very fast. For the flyers to be effective, they must be clearly designed. Use colored material because these are highly visible even from far.
Ensure you use recent photos of your pet. These should also be very clear, and if possible, in high definition.
The photos must highlight the distinct features of your dog or cat to enable people to notice them faster.
If you follow these simple instructions when designing your lost pet flyer, you will soon be reunited with your loved one and be one happy family once again.
