What Do You Do if You Find a Lost or Injured Animal?

How to Safely (& Effectively) Be a Good Samaritan

If you find a dog or a cat, remember: always think “lost” rather than “stray!” It is easy to assume that found animals are abandoned, but they likely have guardians who are looking for them. A worried family could be relying depending on you to help their beloved pet find their way home.

Safety First

For pets like dogs and cats, it’s best to “observe the animal from a distance” and, “if they’re on a roadway, try not to force them into further danger,” according to Miguel Abi-hassan, Chief Programs Officer at Joybound People & Pets. 

Only approach the lost animal if you feel 100% safe in doing so, and your presence is not stressing the animal out further. Otherwise, contact your local municipal shelter to deploy a team to safety and humanely trap the animal, and take them into their care.

“Domestic pets are likely in a stage of flight/fight when injured or even when stressed by an unfamiliar environment,” Abi-hassan said. “Sick and injured animals can often respond to the discomfort of their injuries or illness with unpredictable behavior, up to biting or scratching, and some illnesses that animals get can be spread to humans, so we do not recommend you try and handle an animal that is obviously sick or injured.”

Identifying the Animal

Once the lost pet is in your safe care, the first step should be to look for identification — a name/identification tag can lead you directly to the guardian. Rabies tags and shelter tags also have traceable numbers. If there are no identification tags, take the pet to a veterinarian or shelter to scan for a microchip (this is a free service). During business hours, Joybound’s team can also assist you in finding and scanning a lost animal’s microchip. If it is after-hours, an emergency veterinary hospital will be able to assist. If there is a microchip, the company can trace the guardian and contact them to be reunited with their lost pet.

Bringing a Lost Pet to a Shelter

Immediately contact the animal control agency in the area you found the pet and provide a detailed physical description along with the location and date that you found the animal. If the guardians call the shelter, the information will be on file to cross-reference. If you wish to foster and keep the pet out of the shelter until the guardian is found, inform the agency of your desire to do so – many agencies are agreeable to this.

In most of Contra Costa County, lost and injured animals (dogs and cats) should be brought to Contra Costa Animal Services. For residents of Antioch, lost and injured animals (dogs and cats) can be brought to Antioch Animal Services. Joybound’s Admissions teams deploys to our partner shelters multiple times a week to transfer dogs and cats from overcrowded or under-resourced municipal shelters. This means we are unable to accept surrenders from the public. If you are thinking about surrendering your personal pet because you feel unable to continue caring for them, please contact our Resource Center. 

Please note: Do not immediately re-home the dog or cat to a family member, friend, or even take them in for yourself – even if you’ve fallen in love. Please contact your local municipal animal shelter to schedule an appointment for intake. If you would like to foster the animal you found, you are required to file a “found report” with the local municipal shelter, have the animal scanned for a microchip, and to make a concerted effort to find their guardians. Once you receive the green light from your local municipal shelter after the legally-required number of days, you may proceed with adopting or re-homing.

Searching for the Guardian Yourself

The internet and social media are incredibly effective tools for lost pets. Beyond posting on your personal pages, post a “Lost Pet” advertisement on community websites like Nextdoor, Craigslist, and “Lost & Found Pets of [city name]” Facebook groups. Someone in your community may know the pet and guardian. Some additional sites that may be useful to post on include:

In addition to posting, we encourage you to check these sites daily for any potential “Lost Pet” posts from the animal’s guardians.

Create a poster giving a physical description of the pet and distribute copies widely in your neighborhood. As you travel, look for community bulletin boards in shopping centers, libraries, churches, synagogues, or anywhere else you may post a notice of general interest.

Additionally, place flyers on the streets at busy intersections (you may first want to check the legality of posting on public property). As you distribute the posters, remember to look for the flyer that the pet’s guardian may have posted.

What to Do if You Find Baby Kittens

When a person comes across a litter of kittens, their good-hearted instincts often tell them to rush to the kittens’ aid. Surprisingly, human intervention is usually not needed! If you come across a young litter, often the best thing you can do is leave them alone. Their mom will likely be back soon, and it’s critical that the kittens remain in her care — their best chance for survival is at her side. Of course, if you find kittens that are ill or mom doesn’t return within eight hours, you can then step in and help.

For information specific to finding a litter of baby kittens, please visit this blog post: Don’t Be a Kitten Napper.

Note: This article was featured in our monthly eNewsletter. You can receive stories like this, along with other exciting updates about Joybound’s programs for pets and people, by signing up to be added to our email lists.