What To Do If You Have Found a Lost Pet
Please follow these steps to help reunite the pet with its rightful owner. Make sure to ask for documentation or pictures to prove ownership. Thank you in advance for helping this lost animal.
1. Take the animal to any vet office to have it scanned for a microchip
2. Post in several lost and found groups on Facebook. Here are a few:
- Lost Dogs Orlando and other citys Florida
- Wekiva & Surrounding Area Pets Lost & Found
- Lost, Found and Helping Pets of Orange County, Florida
- Lost & Found Animals in Orange, Seminole, & Volusia Counties – FL
- Seminole County Pets Lost and Found
- Lost and found pets of Central Florida
- Lost or Found Pets of Central Florida
- Also post on Nextdoor app and Pawboost
3. Walk the animal around the neighborhood to see if anyone is missing it or recognizes it
4. Post flyers, not everyone is on social media.
5. File a report with the county shelter. This is required by law and usually the first place that people will go to look for their lost pet. Make sure that you have the location found and a clear picture of the animal.
- For Orange County Animal Services you can call 407-836-3111 make a found dog report. Or you can complete the form through the website.
- For Seminole County Animal Services you can call 4076655201 and make a found animal report. Additional information on their website
- For Osceola County animal services you can make a report at 407-742-8000 or on their website
6. If at this point, you still have not found the owner, you have two options. You can bring the animal to the shelter where they will do a five day stray hold and then will get the animal the appropriate vetting and place up for adoption or you can hold the animal at home and do the stray hold yourself.
Please note that if not taken to the shelter, the requirements are to hold the animal for 30 days while actively searching for an owner. All of the above, including the 30 day hold, must be done before the animal can be handed off to any rescue or rehomed.
References- Sec. 5-33 . When a domestic animal is at-large a person may seize such animal in a humane manner if the owner of the animal is unknown to the person and the owner of the animal is not identified by any form of identification. Any person, who finds a stray domestic animal, where the owner is unknown, shall relinquish custody to the animal services division or file a found animal report with the animal services division within two (2) calendar days after finding the animal. If the person desires to maintain the seized animal as their own, he/she shall maintain such animal for the time set forth in subsection (2) hereinafter. (2) Any person who keeps a found domestic animal for thirty (30) consecutive days, and no owner is found, shall be conclusively presumed to be the owner of such animal. (Ord. No. 95-32, § 6, 9-26-95; Ord. No. 2005-07 , § 7, 7-12-05)
