You can significantly increase the chances of reuniting the pet with their family by following the simple steps below.

The majority of lost or stray animals have families who love them and are typically found less than one mile from their homes. To keep pet families together, it is best to try to locate a lost pet’s family prior to bringing the animal to the shelter. On average, only 3-4% of the stray cats and only 15-20% of the stray dogs brought to the shelter are returned to their owners.

Within the 1st Hour

DISCLAIMER: If the animal is injured, sick or malnourished, please take them to the nearest veterinarian clinic or your city’s shelter, or contact your local animal control agency. Injured, sick or malnourished animals found within Kansas City Missouri can be brought to the KC Campus for Animal Care, or contact the Animal Services Division at 816-683-1373

  1. Check for ID
    Some pets have a collar with the phone number stitched in, or a tag with a number that you can call to locate the pet parent.
  2. Alert your neighbors
    Take a photo and share it with your neighbors by using the methods your community utilizes most to communicate. This could include Nextdoor, a Facebook group, or a neighborhood email list. Be sure to include where the animal was found and how to get in contact with you. Be descriptive, include as much detail as possible, and be sure to include where the animal was found and how to get in contact with you. It is important that you know the cross streets and/or the address where the pet was found.
  3. Take a walk
    If possible, take a walk around the neighborhood to see if anyone might recognize the animal and know who they belong to.
  4. Check for a microchip
    Bring the pet to the nearest veterinarian clinic or shelter to get a free microchip scan.

Within the Next Few Hours

  1. Bringing the animal indoors to safety
    Bringing a new animal into your home can pose risks to you and/or your household. As a precaution, please keep all pets separate and wash your hands frequently when handling the found animal. Disease and illness can spread quickly.
  2. Start searching local lost & found pet alert sites
    The owner may have posted their pet as missing, so be sure to check websites such as Petco Love Lost, Pawboost and social media groups.
  3. Post the animal as found
    If you don’t see any lost posts matching the pet you found, submit a Found Pet Report on the KC Pet Project website as well as creating a found post on Petco Love Lost, Pawboost and social media groups.
    We recommend creating only one post on Facebook, and then sharing that post to various groups available instead of creating multiple posts
  4. Make flyers and walk the neighborhood
    PetFBI has an easy online found pet flyer template that you can print from home! If you need help creating and printing a flyer a member of our Return-to-Home Team can assist you at our shelter. Then, walk the neighborhood, speak with neighbors, postal carriers, UPS/Amazon drivers, landscapers, and tell them about your found pet.

Within the First 24 Hours

  1. Hang found pet posters
    Hang posters with duct tape at major intersections within a 3-mile radius of where the dog was found or a 1-mile radius of where the cat was found.
  2. Continue searching local lost and found pet alert sites
    Frequently search local lost and found pet alert sites for any leads on the animal’s owner and for any lost pet posts that match your found animal.

If you are unable to locate an owner or unable to continue caring for the found animal

Animals Found in Kansas City, Missouri

If the animal was found in Kansas City, Missouri and you are not in a position to continue caring for them while attempting to locate an owner, please visit the KC Campus for Animal Care to work with our Pet Support Team. We only accept animals at our KCCAC location (we do not accept animals at any of our Adoption Center locations). There is an intake fee for any stray drop offs and we ask that you please bring a valid photo ID. The intake fee helps the shelter cover the cost of food and medical care for the pet while at KC Pet Project.

We hold stray animals for five days. After this five day holding period, any stray animal can be put up for adoption, transferred to another shelter, sent to rescue, put into a foster home, and in rare cases, euthanized (only if serious medical issues exist or there are issues of aggression).

Animals found outside of Kansas City, Missouri

If the animal was found outside of Kansas City, Missouri, please contact your city shelter to discuss services. It’s important that the animal is taken to the shelter in the city it was found in to give them the best opportunity to reunite with their owner.

Report a Found Pet

If you’ve found a pet, please visit our Found Pet Resources page after submitting your report to learn about ways you can significantly increase the chances of reuniting the pet with their family.

Cat with ear tip

Found Cats

  1. If you find a healthy adult cat outdoors, alert your neighbors. Snap a photo of the pet and share it by using the methods your community utilizes most to communicate.
  2. Do not take the cat into your home, or move it unless it is sick or injured. Found cats may be an indoor/outdoor cat and their owners may wait several days before reporting their cat missing or looking for their cat at a nearby shelter. Cats typically don’t wander more than one-mile from their homebase and are able to find their way back on their own.
  3. If the adult cat is injured or looks malnourished or sick, take them to a vet or bring them to your county’s animal shelter (injured or sick adult cats found in KCMO can come to our KCCAC location).

The cat you’ve found could be an owned outdoor cat, or a community cat. Community cats are often happiest outdoors and some may have an ear tip. The best thing you can do for community cats is Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR). TNR involves having the cat spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and returned to their familiar environment. For more information on what to do if you find a cat outside, contact us at [email protected].

kitten

Found Kittens

When you find stray kittens, their best chance at survival is leaving them where they are and waiting for their mom. Do not pick them up until you’ve reviewed our Kitten Information page.

For detailed information about caring for underage kittens, check out KittenLady.org

Surrounding Shelters Map

Please keep in mind this list does not include every city in the metro area. If your city is not listed, you can use Google or another search engine to find your local animal control.

Found Pet Resources

Websites where you can post found pets:

  • Petco Love Lost
  • Pawboost: PawBoost is like an AMBER Alert for lost pets. Millions of pet lovers have joined their Rescue Squad by signing up for localized lost & found pet alerts. More importantly, PawBoost has helped reunite over 1 million pets with their families. Posting is free, with optional premium services available.
  • Nextdoor: Free, private, social media network for your neighborhood community where you can post your missing pet to those who live in your area. This has proven to have a high success rate of reuniting missing pets!
  • Craigslist (Lost & Found)
  • LostMyDoggie
  • LostMyKitty
  • PetFBI

Facebook Groups

We recommend creating only one post on Facebook, and then sharing that post to various groups available instead of creating multiple posts.

Wildlife

If you find sick, injured or abandoned wildlife in Kansas City MO, please visit our Wildlife Resources page for support. KC Pet Project Animal Services Officers do not remove wild animals such as squirrels, raccoons or opossums from underneath porches, on rooftops, inside attics or unfinished basements.

Animal Services does not respond to calls for deceased animal pickups unless the deceased animal was involved in a bite or rabies exposure (please dial 311 for assistance for deceased animals).

Your support to our Keep ‘Em Together Fund keeps families and their pets together

Petco Love Lost

Looking for assistance for your family?

We know how overwhelming life can be. Here are some human support service tools and resources for you to explore: