Our Pet Tips and Curated Resources
The Animal League has more than 30 years of experience rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming pets. We know what it takes to keep pets safe, what to do if a pet gets loose and lost, and how to keep a pet during challenging times. We hope you find these tips helpful.
Keeping Your Pets Safe
Remember to keep pets inside during holidays where loud noises, like fireworks, could scare and run them off.
- Pet-proof your fenced yard. Be sure there are no escape routes – holes under the fence, loose or missing pieces of fence. Keep gates securely locked.
- Never let your pet roam free – leash them at all times.
- Keep a collar on your pet with his or her rabies tag, along with a tag that has your name and current telephone number.
- Speak to your veterinarian about having a microchip implanted in your pet. This is a permanent and reliable means of identification. All pets adopted from The Animal League come with a chip.
- Be sure to notify the microchip company if you move or change your telephone number – outdated contact information will not get your pet back to you safely.
- Make sure your pet is spayed or neutered. They will be less likely to wander.
What to Do if you Lost Your Pet
Don’t give up! Pets have been known to find their way home months after they are lost.
- Start searching immediately! Notify neighbors that your pet is missing. Get a friend to help you search your neighborhood. Talk to everyone you meet, and be sure to leave a flyer with them. Get the neighborhood children involved – kids are great at finding lost pets.
- This might sound silly, but put some of your dirty laundry in your driveway. Your lost pet may follow your scent.
- Hang flyers everywhere – stores, gas stations, schools, the post office, veterinarian offices – anywhere someone will let you post one. Be sure to include a color photo of your pet, as well as a description. Leave out one identifying mark or characteristic so that if someone calls you can verify that the person has your pet. Include a telephone number, but not your name and address. Don’t forget to give a flyer to the workers and delivery people in your area – the UPS driver, the mail carrier, utility workers – they travel all over and may have seen your pet. Offer a reward, but don’t state the amount.
- Go in person to your local animal shelter daily and search for your pet. Be sure to ask to see the animals in isolation. If you’re in Lake County, FL: Lake County Animal Services is located in Tavares (off CR 561). Their telephone number is (352) 343-9688.
- Run a Lost Pet ad in your local papers. Don’t forget to check their Found Pet ads daily.
- Run a Lost Pet ad on Craig’s List, Pets 911, Petfinder, Dog Detective, and Pet Harbor. Post your flyer on the NextDoor app and on your social media pages. Include the same information as you would on a Lost Pet flyer.
- If you’re near us: contact us and include the following:
 Type and name of pet (e.g., cat, Bosco)
 Description (breed, age, weight, male/female, coloring, markings, etc.)
 Date and location where lost (include cross streets, subdivision name, etc.)
 Your name, address, and telephone number if we need to contact you. - Search the Petco Love Lost and found pets search tool. Petco Love Lost allows pet parents to upload a photo and search for their pet after they have gone lost. You can quickly create and distribute lost and found pets from people and shelters all across the US and share pet alerts to Nextdoor, Facebook, email, and more.
What to Do if you Found A Lost Pet
If you found a lost pet, thank you for taking the time to take care of it. It is important that you check the credentials of the person claiming the pet. Unfortunately, there are devious people looking to take advantage of the situation.
- Check with neighbors to see if anyone recognizes the animal.
- Take the animal to a veterinarian to be scanned for a microchip. This is done for free.
- If the animal has a rabies tag, call the vet office listed so they can contact the owner.
- Post Found Pet flyers in the area where the animal was found and on social media (Facebook local “pet lost and found” pages and NextDoor.com). Don’t forget to post them at your local vet offices, area stores, etc. Important: leave off one piece of information so if anyone responds to the flyer you can check to see if the animal is theirs. Ask them to show you a photo of the animal or some other proof that they are the legal owner. Unfortunately, there are bad people who may take advantage of the situation in an attempt to steal someone else’s pet. Be sure the pet belongs to the person before giving it up.
- Contact animal control in the county where the animal was found to see if someone is looking for the animal. If you’re in Lake County: the telephone number is 352-343-9688. Also contact neighboring county shelters. Don’t forget to post a flyer on their bulletin boards.
- If you’re near us: contact us. Include the following:
Type of animal
Description (breed, age, weight, male/female, coloring, markings, etc.)
Date and location where found (include cross streets, subdivision name, etc.)
Your name, address, and telephone number if we need to contact you. - Search the Petco Love Lost and found pets search tool. Petco Love Lost allows pet parents to upload a photo and search for their pet after they have gone lost. You can quickly create and distribute lost and found pets from people and shelters all across the US and share pet alerts to Nextdoor, Facebook, email, and more.
What to Do if you Can’t Keep Your Pet
Before giving your pet away or surrendering him to an animal shelter, please do all that you can to keep them in your home. With a little extra planning and effort, there is usually a solution to most common reasons for giving up a pet.
If you adopted your pet from us and need to return him/her, complete the Owner Surrender Form and indicate that your pet was adopted from The Animal League in the notes section.
- Moving? Check out these tips and ideas that help pet owners find or keep rental housing.
- Military deployment – Dogs on Deployment will help you find a volunteer to take care of your pet while deployed.
- Veterinary bills – There are many organizations that may be able help with your veterinary bills or emergency car for your pet and many of them are compiled here for you.
- Allergies – there are solutions that allow you to both keep your beloved pet and live a healthy life whether you are allergic to a dog or allergic to a cat. It’s also possible that what you think is a pet allergy is actually a reaction caused by something else.
- New baby – Taking the right approach before and after you bring your baby home will go a long way to successfully introducing your pets to your new baby.
- No time – doggy day care, pet sitters, and introducing quality activities into your pet’s time with you are a few solutions to reducing your stress and your pet’s happiness. It’s important that you stimulate your pet on both physical and cognitive levels: teach your dog a new trick a few minutes at a time, take him for a car ride, play ball or hide and seek, utilize toys engage your pet’s thinking skills.
- Pet behavioral issues – Your pet may behavioral issues related to obedience, house soiling, chewing/destruction, barking, separation anxiety, or aggression. Seek free advice from online resources or contact a trainer near you.
- Financial hardship – The Animal League supplies pet food to local pantries through our Nourish the Needy program. See a list of pet food pantry locations if you are in temporary need of pet food assistance.
