Use This Checklist if Your Foster Dog or Newly Adopted Dog Goes Missing

lost dog

If you are fostering or have recently adopted a dog and your dog goes missing here is a checklist to get you started.

  1. Contact the rescue or shelter. Ask them for help with such tasks as: flyering, contacting vet clinics, shelters, police departments and posting to other county or neighborhood Facebook pages.
  2. Complete a lost dog report with our partner, PetFBI. Once your report is completed with Pet FBI, your dog’s listing will be posted to the appropriate state or provincial Facebook page. You will be able to create free flyers so you can start making copies to distribute.
  3. Ask the rescue/shelter to share your listing on their own Facebook page to get the word out.
  4. If the dog is microchipped, contact the microchip company to report his missing. Make sure that the information is up to date with current contact information. You may need a representative of the rescue to help you with this if they are listed as the owner of the dog.
  5. Ask if the rescue/shelter has recovery equipment such as trail cameras or traps in case they are needed. If not, ask them to facilitate getting or borrowing equipment to help you catch your dog.

At Lost Dogs of America, we believe that rescues and shelters have a responsibility to provide ongoing support to foster and adoptive homes especially if a dog goes missing.