As soon as you discover that your pet is missing, you should attempt to locate it immediately! Do not wait for it to come home. Time is critical!
Most Animal Shelters only hold pets for a limited time. There are too many strays and not enough people willing to adopt for the Shelters to hold them indefinitely.
To have the best chance of locating your pet, you must act quickly and be persistent.
It is a horrible feeling to wonder for the rest of your life what became of your pet.
Some Steps to take:
Search everywhere around your house, yard, and neighborhood. Do not assume your pet will be able to bark, meow, make their presence known, or even come to you when called. They may be injured or scared. Look everywhere: closets, behind drapes, garage, under decks, behind furniture, garbage cans, culverts...everywhere. Have there been any vehicles which have recently been in the area and moved? They may have hitched a ride in someone's vehicle.
Be sure to drive around the neighborhood in addition to walking. You can more quickly cover the area by driving and more thoroughly by walking. Do both!
Visit the local Animal Shelters:
Bastrop, TX Animal Shelter - 804 Pecan Street, 512-303-1080
Bastrop County Animal Control & Shelter - 589 Coolwater Drive, Bastrop, TX 78602
512-581-4080 - FAX: 512-303-6491 - email: animalshelter589@yahoo.com
Wildfire Pet Rescue - this is a good resource for lost and found pets with current postings.
Return to the shelters often! Do not depend on them contacting you. They have many animals in their care. Be persistent. Realize that if you contact them only by phone, they may not recognize your pet - what you may call 'brown' may be 'tan' to someone else.
Only you can identify your pet.
Post on Facebook: Lost Pets and Found Pets
Entice the animal back by leaving clothing you have worn, bedding, litter box, etc. outside. You can sprinkle flour around to check for prints.
Consider setting a 'humane trap'. There are several brands of such traps - HavAHart is probably the best known. They do not harm the animal. Check the trap often - and do not be surprised if you have caught a neighbor's pet or a raccoon or other wild animal.
If your pet was wearing a collar, realize that it might have gotten loose and fallen off.
Call the local veterinarians - people often take injured animals to veterinarians.
Prepare a flyer with a photo, contact info, the date last seen and the location last seen to distribute in your neighborhood (90% of pets are found within a 2 mile radius of the location where they were lost). Make sure the print is large enough to be seen from a car. Give information and a contact number. The flyers can be given to neighbors, posted on utility poles...DO NOT put the flyers in mailboxes!
Make sure the phone number is on the flyer and also make feathered phone number tags so people can tear off the number. If you offer a reward do not mention the $ amount on the flyer.
Once your pet is found, please take the flyers down!
Take a flyer to Book Basket, 913 Main Street, Bastrop, TX. They will post the flyer on their front door as a "CiCi Alert".
Notify CiCi ALerts - please use the Contact Us form to advise us of your missing pet and upload a photo of your pet. We will post this information on-line. There is no fee involved.
You might also post on the following free sites:
Austin Craigslist - Pets
Austin Craigslist - Lost and Found
Facebook: Bastrop Lost Pets
Facebook: Bastrop Found Pets
Please remember to also post when your pet is found, etc.
Consider placing a 'Missing' ad in the local newspaper. Please also consider placing a 'Found' ad if you have found a missing pet and do not know where it belongs.
There are sites who, for a fee, will contact your neighbors via email, mail or phone. Prices start around $40.00 and up based upon the coverage you wish. We have had no dealings with these sites and neither recommend nor endorse them - although the concept is a good idea. You may find them by internet search for 'lost pets'.
The U.S. Postal Service offers an "Every Door Direct MailŪ" service where they will mail a notice to every address within the area you wish for 14.5 cents per address. You do not need to know the names nor addresses - you simply tell them which neighborhoods to cover. More details at https://www.usps.com/business/every-door-direct-mail.htm
Good Luck!
*****************************************************************************************
Preventative Measures:
After your pet has been found - or before your pet is missing, please consider having a microchip implanted. These microchips are approximately the size of a grain of rice and are normally implanted just beneath the surface of the skin between the shoulder blades. This is a painless procedure similar to vaccination via a needle. The microchip stores information on the animal and owner and can be easily scanned when your pet is found. The microchip is a permanent means of identification and gives the best chance of having your missing pet returned. Please ask your veterinarian or animal shelter for information.
*****************************************************************************************
Please Be Careful!
When you post phone numbers, addresses, or any type of contact info - whether online, published print, or even flyers posted in your neighborhood, you may receive fraudulent responses from unscrupulous persons claiming to have found your pet.
Please be aware that:
If you are contacted by someone who claims to have your pet but is no longer in your area - be suspicious. Scammers will ask you to send money to pay for your pet's return. This may well be a scam.
There are companies who may contact you and will guarantee they will find your pet or they will refund your money. Charges sometimes are as high as $800 and up. They will normally want payment first via Western Union. Be wary!
Be especially wary if anyone asks you to wire money, such as Western Union transfers. If you decide to send money, use a cashier's check or money order.
Many scammers will try to scare you into thinking you must act quickly or the pet will be harmed or lost.
If the finder refuses to meet you face-to-face it may be indication of a scam.
Be wary of anyone offering free pets and they even offer to deliver to you. Of course, they will need to know your address and when you will be home - which means they can determine when you will not be home.
Always remember that if it sounds too good to be true - it probably is!
Scammers make their living by being deceitful - and they are normally very good at it!
.
Most Animal Shelters only hold pets for a limited time. There are too many strays and not enough people willing to adopt for the Shelters to hold them indefinitely.
To have the best chance of locating your pet, you must act quickly and be persistent.
It is a horrible feeling to wonder for the rest of your life what became of your pet.
Some Steps to take:
Search everywhere around your house, yard, and neighborhood. Do not assume your pet will be able to bark, meow, make their presence known, or even come to you when called. They may be injured or scared. Look everywhere: closets, behind drapes, garage, under decks, behind furniture, garbage cans, culverts...everywhere. Have there been any vehicles which have recently been in the area and moved? They may have hitched a ride in someone's vehicle.
Be sure to drive around the neighborhood in addition to walking. You can more quickly cover the area by driving and more thoroughly by walking. Do both!
Visit the local Animal Shelters:
Bastrop, TX Animal Shelter - 804 Pecan Street, 512-303-1080
Bastrop County Animal Control & Shelter - 589 Coolwater Drive, Bastrop, TX 78602
512-581-4080 - FAX: 512-303-6491 - email: animalshelter589@yahoo.com
Wildfire Pet Rescue - this is a good resource for lost and found pets with current postings.
Return to the shelters often! Do not depend on them contacting you. They have many animals in their care. Be persistent. Realize that if you contact them only by phone, they may not recognize your pet - what you may call 'brown' may be 'tan' to someone else.
Only you can identify your pet.
Post on Facebook: Lost Pets and Found Pets
Entice the animal back by leaving clothing you have worn, bedding, litter box, etc. outside. You can sprinkle flour around to check for prints.
Consider setting a 'humane trap'. There are several brands of such traps - HavAHart is probably the best known. They do not harm the animal. Check the trap often - and do not be surprised if you have caught a neighbor's pet or a raccoon or other wild animal.
If your pet was wearing a collar, realize that it might have gotten loose and fallen off.
Call the local veterinarians - people often take injured animals to veterinarians.
Prepare a flyer with a photo, contact info, the date last seen and the location last seen to distribute in your neighborhood (90% of pets are found within a 2 mile radius of the location where they were lost). Make sure the print is large enough to be seen from a car. Give information and a contact number. The flyers can be given to neighbors, posted on utility poles...DO NOT put the flyers in mailboxes!
Make sure the phone number is on the flyer and also make feathered phone number tags so people can tear off the number. If you offer a reward do not mention the $ amount on the flyer.
Once your pet is found, please take the flyers down!
Take a flyer to Book Basket, 913 Main Street, Bastrop, TX. They will post the flyer on their front door as a "CiCi Alert".
Notify CiCi ALerts - please use the Contact Us form to advise us of your missing pet and upload a photo of your pet. We will post this information on-line. There is no fee involved.
You might also post on the following free sites:
Austin Craigslist - Pets
Austin Craigslist - Lost and Found
Facebook: Bastrop Lost Pets
Facebook: Bastrop Found Pets
Please remember to also post when your pet is found, etc.
Consider placing a 'Missing' ad in the local newspaper. Please also consider placing a 'Found' ad if you have found a missing pet and do not know where it belongs.
There are sites who, for a fee, will contact your neighbors via email, mail or phone. Prices start around $40.00 and up based upon the coverage you wish. We have had no dealings with these sites and neither recommend nor endorse them - although the concept is a good idea. You may find them by internet search for 'lost pets'.
The U.S. Postal Service offers an "Every Door Direct MailŪ" service where they will mail a notice to every address within the area you wish for 14.5 cents per address. You do not need to know the names nor addresses - you simply tell them which neighborhoods to cover. More details at https://www.usps.com/business/every-door-direct-mail.htm
Good Luck!
*****************************************************************************************
Preventative Measures:
After your pet has been found - or before your pet is missing, please consider having a microchip implanted. These microchips are approximately the size of a grain of rice and are normally implanted just beneath the surface of the skin between the shoulder blades. This is a painless procedure similar to vaccination via a needle. The microchip stores information on the animal and owner and can be easily scanned when your pet is found. The microchip is a permanent means of identification and gives the best chance of having your missing pet returned. Please ask your veterinarian or animal shelter for information.
*****************************************************************************************
Please Be Careful!
When you post phone numbers, addresses, or any type of contact info - whether online, published print, or even flyers posted in your neighborhood, you may receive fraudulent responses from unscrupulous persons claiming to have found your pet.
Please be aware that:
If you are contacted by someone who claims to have your pet but is no longer in your area - be suspicious. Scammers will ask you to send money to pay for your pet's return. This may well be a scam.
There are companies who may contact you and will guarantee they will find your pet or they will refund your money. Charges sometimes are as high as $800 and up. They will normally want payment first via Western Union. Be wary!
Be especially wary if anyone asks you to wire money, such as Western Union transfers. If you decide to send money, use a cashier's check or money order.
Many scammers will try to scare you into thinking you must act quickly or the pet will be harmed or lost.
If the finder refuses to meet you face-to-face it may be indication of a scam.
Be wary of anyone offering free pets and they even offer to deliver to you. Of course, they will need to know your address and when you will be home - which means they can determine when you will not be home.
Always remember that if it sounds too good to be true - it probably is!
Scammers make their living by being deceitful - and they are normally very good at it!
.
What to Do When Your Pet Goes Missing
.
CiCi Alerts
Our Goal is the safe recovery
of our missing and loved pets!
Serving Bastrop,TX
and the surrounding area