• Contact local shelters immediately. Tri-Lakes Humane Society offers courtesy postings for missing pets. Provide a photo and complete description of your missing pet (age, if spayed/neutered, distinguishing characteristics), the location where your pet went missing, and what kind of collar and identification tags your pet may have had on at the time. You can call us at 518-891-0017, email information to info@trilakeshumanesociety.org, or send us a message on Facebook. Other shelters in our area can be found in: Elizabethtown, North Country SPCA; Peru, Elmore SPCA; Malone, North Country Animal Shelter; Massena, Massena Humane Society;

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• Potsdam, Potsdam Humane Society; and Watertown, Jefferson County SPCA. 

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• Call your local Police or State Police. They receive calls from concerned motorists or pedestrians about dogs spotted running loose in traffic or on sidewalks. They will be able to contact the local Dog Control/Animal Control Officer and make them aware that your dog is missing.

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• If the animal has a microchip, immediately contact the microchip company so the animal can be flagged as lost. If the animal’s chip information is unknown, if appropriate, contact the shelter or rescue where the animal was adopted for assistance. If the chip was implanted by a veterinarian, that information should be contained in the animal health records.

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• Search our found animals HERE for animals that may have been brought or reported to the shelter. 

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• Spread the word! Contact area newspapers, and place an ad (most of them are free) that your pet is missing. Contact as many as possible – the more area that is covered, the better! Don’t forget social media (consider neighborhood groups and local lost & found groups), your local Next Door group, e-news, and Craigslist. The more people who know about your missing pet, the more likely it will be that they are returned to you.

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• Register the animal with Finding Rover HERE and report the animal as being lost. If already registered with Finding Rover, log into the account and report the animal as being lost. Other sites to consider also include PetHarbor, PetFBI, and PawBoost. 

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• If the animal is wearing a rabies tag administered by a Veterinarian, notify the Veterinarian immediately that the animal is lost.

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• Contact local veterinary offices to ask if you can post a lost pet flyer at their office.

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• Call your local Radio station and ask if they can announce on-air that your pet is missing. Many stations will announce lost and found pets – so make sure to ask them if someone has contacted them already about finding a dog like yours.

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• Create flyers with a photo of your missing pet. We recommend that you make a poster with your pet's photo, name, description, location and date/time lost, and contact information. Posters should be put up in your neighborhood and around your town. Most businesses will allow posters to be put in their windows or on bulletin boards. You can create a form online: https://search.petfbi.org/flyer.html or http://petbond.com/flyerentry.php

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• Call your local Post Office, UPS, or FedEx carriers to make them aware that your dog is missing, or hand them flyers, so they can keep an eye out while on their delivery route.

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• Contact your local Cable Provider. Some local cable access stations offer the public a community bulletin board where they can place ads that run on the TV – usually for free!

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• If you believe your dog is lost in the woods, contact your local Environmental Conservation office and notify them. The NYSDEC Officers and NYS Rangers may be able to assist you in finding your lost dog if you are able to give them enough information about where the dog was lost. If you lost your dog while out hiking, post a notice at the trailhead with your contact information, that way any future hikers will be made aware of what your dog looks like if they find it.