Lost and Found Pets and Loss Prevention

To report a problem, complaint, or to speak to an animal control officer, please call 727-6111.

Have you lost your pet and don’t know what to do or where to turn? 
Here is what you can do to maximize your chances of finding your pet quickly and to have him/her safely returned. 

• Visit the local shelter in person to look for your pet.  Remember, you know what your pet looks like, the shelter staff does not!
• Call Nonemergency Communications at 727.6111 to speak with an Animal Control Officer to see if your animal has been picked up by Animal Control if it’s the same day.
• Place a lost ad in your local newspaper or through a social media site.  Many people who find a pet look to see if an ad has been placed for the lost pet.  Keep one of your pet’s identifying features to yourself for use only when someone responds to your ad. 
• Post flyers with a recent picture of your lost pet.  Good places to post and to distribute them are animal hospitals, grooming parlors, pet stores and local shelters. 
• Ask around!  Your neighbors and area workers can be very helpful when you are searching for your lost pet.  Great people to ask are your mail carrier, newspaper carrier, meter readers, children and neighborhood watch persons.
• Don’t limit your shelter visits to only ones in your city.  Though rare, it is possible for your animal to make its way to other cities. 

After you have FOUND your pet—

• Notify shelters and take down flyers so that people looking for your pet can concentrate their efforts on someone else’s pet.
• Take precautions to prevent your pet from going missing again by using the following valuable tips:
• Be prepared in case your pet goes missing.  It is up to you to make sure your pet can be properly identified.
• Make certain your pet is microchipped or wears a collar with a rabies tag, city license or other types of identification tags at all times.  These tags are a lost pet’s ticket home.  Ninety-five percent of lost pets wearing tags are returned to their owners, whereas 95% of those who do not wear identification tags are not. 
• Take photographs of our pet.  If you pet does become lost, photos used in a lost ad, on a flyer, or left at your local shelter can help identify your pet.
• Take steps to insure your pet is safely confined at all times to your house or fenced yard.  Daily walks with your dog are great exercise for you and your pet.  Keeping your dog on a leash is the safest way to insure your pet stays with you.  Cats can live long, safe and happy lives completely indoors.  With a litter box, toys and a scratching post, they never need to go outside.
• Vary the times your dog is out in his fenced yard.  A set routine may help someone know when would be a good time to snatch your pet.
• Put a lock on your gate to keep unauthorized persons from entering your yard and possibly removing your dog.
• Don’t allow your pet to roam free.  In the city of Hampton, law prohibits pets from roaming free.  All pets must have rabies vaccinations and a city license.  Cats must be spayed and/or neutered to roam free.

Have you FOUND a pet?  Here’s what you should do—

• Check the animal for identification, such as tags on his collar or a tattoo on the inside of his thigh or ear.  Call phone numbers listed on tags or the vet to help you trace the tag.  Contact your local shelter or Animal Control to have the animal scanned for a microchip.  Animals that are microchipped can often be quickly returned to their rightful owners. 
• Post FOUND flyers in the neighborhood with a brief description of the animal that was found.  Be careful to leave out a special identifying piece of information so that you can prevent someone other than the rightful owner from claiming the animal. 
• If you cannot keep the animal at your home, take the animal to the local animal shelter.  Most people will check their local shelter in search of their pet so really it’s the best way to ensure that the animal gets safely home.
• Check the local lost and found ads in the classified section of the newspaper as well as social media sites.  You can also place an ad yourself. 
• Please don’t ignore him!  He needs your help before he falls into the wrong hands or is killed or injured in traffic. 

My animal has been picked up by Hampton Animal Control.  Where is my pet?

The City of Hampton does not have its own animal shelter so we partner with the Peninsula SPCA to house our impounded animals.  Contact the Peninsula SPCA to claim your pet at 532 J. Clyde Morris Boulevard, Newport News.  Their phone number is 757.595.1399.  As of July 1, 2011 hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 11am – 6pm; Saturday, 10am – 5 pm; closed Sundays.