If you've found a cat or dog, please do not assume that someone has dumped that pet!   By law you are required to take the pet to your local county animal control.  There could be a family frantically searching for their pet!  Use some of the following ideas  to attempt to find the owner as well (especially for those counties with no animal control office).  Wouldn't you want someone to do the same if they found your lost pet?

The slideshow to the left shows some pets that Happy Tails Rescue successfully reunited with their happy owners!  The methods below work, and so far the Newspaper has had the most success for us!  The captions show which method helped in finding that pet's owner.

Here are some steps to help in finding the owner:

Check for Microchip:  Take the pet to any vet or animal shelter to can scan for a microchip! This is free!  Many folks are microchipping their pets and this can put your immediately in touch with the owners.  This is a small chip implanted under the skin (you cannot see or feel for it) between the shoulder blades.  The vets and shelters have a special device that will scan for the chip.  If one is found the chip manufacturer will have the contact information registered for that pet.  Also, sometimes the pet has a plastic tag on it's collar with the chip number and a phone number to the microchip company.

Report Found Pet to Animal Control Offices:  Please call county animal control offices for your local area and provide a description of the found pet and your contact information.    This is typically the first place someone looks for their lost pet, and you are required by law to turn the pet over to your county animal control.

Columbia County Animal Control - (706) 541-4077

Richmond County Animal Control - (706) 790-6836

Aiken City Animal Control - (803) 642-7620

Aiken County  Animal Control - (803) 642-1537

Newspaper:    First, check the newspaper lost & found to see if any listed lost pets match the one you found. Most newspapers will also provide you a free lost & found advertisement.

Post Flyers:  Another great way to find the owner, print out a simple flyer, something like  "Found Dog - Maltese - 706-999-9999" in very large print.  Post at stop signs & businesses in the area where the pet was found.   Also, watch for flyers the owner may have posted for a lost pet.

Craigslist.com:  You can place a free ad on craigslist.com in the lost & found section for your city (or a neighboring city).  You'd need to create a free login using your email address in order to post on craigslist.com.   You do not need to include a phone number or your real email address, craigslist.com will forward any emails to you rather than make yours public (which would certainly result in spam emails).  Like the newspaper ad, you can include info, this also allows a photo. 

Rabies Tag:   Sometimes, more often with dogs than cats, the pet has a collar with a rabies tag.  You can possibly find the owner by calling the number on the rabies tag (the vet who gave the vaccine) and provide that vet with the tag number and pet description.  Sometimes they can identify the owner with just the rabies tag.

Take Pet to Your County Animal Control!   By law you cannot take ownership of a pet running loose, you must turn the pet over to your county animal control.