1. Contact your local police department.
2. Look in your local newspaper under "found" animal ads.
3. Place a "LOST" ad in your local newspaper.
4. Check your local animal shelters. Visiting the shelter in person is better than calling. You know your animal better than anyone. Descriptions are not always sufficient for a stranger to recognize your animal. Check the shelter every 3 days for several weeks to insure that your animal is not euthanized in a shelter. Shelter employees can not be held responsible for calling to let you know an animal that fits your animal's description has shown up. They are very busy and see hundreds of animals everyday.
Monterey County Animal Services Center (receives animals found in unincorporated Monterey County and South County)
160 Hitchcock Rd., Salinas, CA 93908
(831)769-8850
Salinas Animal Shelter (receives animals found in the city of Salinas)
144 Hitchcock Rd., Salinas, CA 93901
(831)758-7285
Marina Animal Shelter (receives animals found in the city of Marina)
3040 Lake Drive, Marina, CA 93933
(831) 384-2528
SPCA of Monterey County (SPCA takes in strays from Monterey, Seaside, Ft Ord, DLI, Pacific Grove, Soledad, and Del Rey Oaks. They are open 365 days per year and will accept strays from other areas of the county when the other shelters are closed. It is always a good idea to check with the SPCA if you have lost a pet.)
Highway 68
Monterey-Salinas Highway
(831)373-2631
King City Veterinarian (receives animals found within King City limits)
890 South 1st Street, King City
(831) 385-4878
Santa Cruz Animal Services Authority (receives animals found within Santa Cruz County.)
(831) 454-7303
Has shelters in Scotts Valley and Watsonville.
5. Place "LOST" posters with a recent photo of your animal all over town. Use lots of BIG LETTERS and BIG NUMBERS
6. Check with the Emergency Vet Clinic. Animals that are injured on week-ends or evenings may end up in an emergency clinic. You may also contact other local vets in your vicinity to see if an unidentified injured animal was brought in.
7. Visit www.petfinder.org, a popular national website with a free classified ad section for posting lost and found animals.
8. Prevention: Help your animal find his/her way back to you in the future! Be sure your animal wears a collar and ID tag at all times with your phone number and address. Ask your vet about microchipping your animal (a tiny scannable chip injected under the skin encoded with your contact information), keep your animal inside the house or in a secure, fenced yard when you are not around.