I Found a Dog

If you find a stray dog, the best thing you can do is to hold onto the dog for at least a few days and look for the owner using our found pet tips. About 92% of lost dogs have a family but few are found once they are in the shelter. It would also prevent our crowded shelter from getting overwhelmed. Thanks for your help saving lives!

If you wish to surrender a stray dog to the shelter, we highly recommend making an appointment in order to reduce the wait time. Call 311 to speak to the City of Sacramento 311 Call Center (24 hours a day/7 days a week). If you are unable to call that number, please call 916-808-7387.

We will only accept a stray dog if it is found within the city limits of Sacramento. If you find a stray dog in the county limits of Sacramento, please call the Bradshaw Animal Shelter at 916-368-7387. This gives the dog the best chance of being found by its family and helps prevent shelters from getting full.

Step 1

Click on the link below to see if an owner has reported his/her dog as being lost.

If you see a dog that you believe is a match, write down the Animal ID and call 311 to speak to the City of Sacramento 311 Call Center (24 hours day / 7 days a week). If you are unable to dial that number, please call 916-808-7387.

Step 2

Text STRAY to 833-511-0426 to receive our proven tips to help you find the owner as well as a website link to fill out a found dog report.

Step 3

  • Make it easy for someone who lost a dog to find you by filling out a found dog report on Petco Love Lost's website.
  • Make a found dog ad on Craigslist (with a photo) and post to the Nextdoor neighborhood where the dog was found.
  • There are many Facebook groups for lost and found pets for different areas in and around Sacramento. Post a picture and description of the dog in the Facebook groups near where the dog was found.
  • Search Craigslist, Nextdoor, and Facebook Pages to see if the owner has posted an ad looking for his/her dog.
  • Take the dog to a shelter or veterinarian to scan for a microchip. Ask for the microchip number and search it on the microchip look-up website.
  • Make found dog posters that look like in this video. Hang them at the 6 busiest intersections near where you found the dog.
  • Report your found dog to other local animal shelters.
  • If the found dog is wearing a tag with a phone number, call and send a text. People tend to be more responsive to texts than phone calls from unknown callers.
  • Continue to update and re-post your online found dog posts every couple of days.

 

Petco Love Lost

Petco Love Lost allows pet parents to upload a photo and search for their pet after the pet has gone missing. Pet facial recognition makes it faster and easier than ever to find possible matches for lost and found pets from people and shelters all across the country. You can create and distribute lost and found pet alerts to share to NextDoor, Facebook, email, and more.

PawBoost

PawBoost enlists the help of local communities in neighborhoods and jurisdictions across the United States and beyond, including partnerships with local shelters, to help spread the word and match the thousands of lost and stray animals reported to PawBoost every day. Whether you've lost your pet or found somebody else's, PawBoost is here to help.

 

What you need to know

Pets are considered to be the legal property of their owners. Finding a pet does not entitle the finder to keep, sell, or give away the pet, nor does it convey ownership to the finder. If you find a pet, you must actively look for the owner for at least 90 days. Even after that period of time has elapsed, the owner may still have the right to reclaim his/her pet under certain circumstances.

According to California Penal Code 485, a person who finds lost property without first making reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore property to the owner may be guilty of theft. It is important to report the found pet to the animal control agency servicing the area where the pet was found and to follow your jurisdiction's policies and procedures regarding stray animals.

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