Lost/Found a Pet? 

Here is what you should do: 

Quickly Reporting the pet to local animal shelters will increase the chance it will be reunited with its family. 

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The shelter uses software that automatically uploads a picture to Petharbor.com. The shelter recommends checking the website daily as it updates frequently during the day as new animals come in. 

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Even if you are planning on keeping the animal at your house while you look for the owner you will need to make a found animal report with local animals shelters, and have the animal scanned for a microchip at vet office or animal shelter. 

If you have lost you animal you can search for it online on Petharbor.com

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Instructions for Pethabor: 

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1. Enter your zip code and hit "enter" button. This will bring up animal shelters in your area that post animals on petharbor

(*Note: Not all animal shelters use pethabor, so it is still a good idea to reach out to your local shelter directly to see if your animal came in) 

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2. Select the shelters you want and then click "search selected shelters" 

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3.  For "Search Type" click "Lost my Pet" 

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4.  For "Choose Animal Type" select the species you lost then click "Search Now" 

      IMPORTANT NOTE:  Leaving the preferences blank will show you every animal in the shelter you are searching. 

      DO NOT put any preferences for breed, age, gender, age, size or color, as this will hide some animals from your       

      search. 

 

You can also check on FindingRover.com. Both lost and found animals can be posted on the site, and they will pull from participating shelter's population. 

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Next, try to locate the owner before you bring the animal to a shelter. 

Post a photo and "found pet" ad with FindingRover, Nextdoor, and in local lost and found animal groups on Facebook and other social media.

 

               Facebook groups and pages:

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                            Hayward Area Lost & Found Pets Facebook group

 

                            Hayward,CA - Lost Dogs, Cats & Pets Facebook page

 

                            Lost and Found pets/rescue animals(BAY AREA) Facebook group. 

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NOTE: If you find a healthy cat or large kitten, research shows that putting it back where you found it is the best thing to do. They are likely someone's pet or being taken care of by a person or mother cat. If it is lost, the cat will have a much better chance of finding its way home than the owner finding it at the shelter. If you are certain the cat is stray, consider TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return).

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If you find tiny kittens (smaller than your hand), be absolutely sure they don't have a mom. Kittens need their mother's milk for their best chance of survival.  If the kittens are warm and wiggly/alert, it is very likely mom just stepped out to get food and will be back in a couple of hours.  You can consider doing TNR (Trap, Neuter, Return)with mom and kittens once they are little older.

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If you need to bring the animal into a shelter, which one you go to will be based on where you found the animal. 

 

Please use the guide below to determine which shelter to bring the animal to. 

You can use Hayward GIS and AlCo Parcel Viewer to help you determine jurisdictions. 

 

On Hayward GIS, incorporated hayward is shaded beige, unincoporated and non-hayward areas  are whited out.