Lost or found a pet?

If you have lost a pet or found a stray, please contact the animal service organization for the city in which the animal was lost/found.

Did you know?
Every city and municipality in Sonoma County has contracted with the animal shelter of their choice to provide animal sheltering and animal control for their residents, including lost and found pets. The shelter directory and contact information are listed below.

Why doesn’t HSSC take strays from these areas?
It’s in the best interest of the animal! Residents who are missing pets are directed to go to the jurisdictional shelter to find their pet and be reunited quickly. It also saves time and stress for an already lost and confused animal to be taken to the jurisdictional shelter by the finder. HSSC wants animals to be reunited with their owners, and we know you do to!

To reclaim your pet from the Humane Society of Sonoma County

You must visit the Humane Society of Sonoma County to reclaim your pet. Bring proof of ownership like vet records or a photo ID of your pet to reclaim. You will also need your photo ID. We accept Driver’s license, US or International passport, Government or other official photo identification, and Mexican Consulate Cards.

City of Sebastopol, Town of Windsor, City of Petaluma, City of Calistoga

City of Santa Rosa, unincorporated areas of Sonoma County

Please contact: Sonoma County Animal Services
Location: 1247 Century Ct., Santa Rosa
Phone: (707) 565-7100

If you’ve found an animal in need of help

For sick/injured animals:

If the animal is sick or injured, please take it to the closest animal shelter or emergency facility. Take the found pet to a veterinarian, emergency animal hospital or your area animal shelter to have the pet’s entire body scanned for a microchip. Microchips can migrate in the pet’s body. A current, registered microchip can help identify an owner. If you can, please keep the animal secure and safe in your home while searching for the owner.

Emergency Care/ Good Samaritan Drop Off 24 hours:

VCA Pet Care
East 2425 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa
(707) 579-3900

For more suggestions on how to help stray pets in your community, visit: How to help a stray pet – The Humane Society of the United States

For wildlife:

County of Sonoma Wildlife Assistance
For help with orphaned, sick or injured wildlife:

Have you found a kitten?

We have many good Samaritans show up at our shelter with a kitten or two, or sometimes a litter of four, five, or more.  We all want to keep these little guys as safe and healthy as possible.  Sometimes that means taking them to a shelter, but other times, the best thing to do is to leave them where they are to receive care from their mom.  So how do you figure out what is best?

-If the kittens appear to be sick, injured, really thin, or generally in poor shape, then they are likely not being cared for by mom, and need help!  Take them to a vet or animal shelter right away.  We recommend you call ahead to make sure the animal shelter you are planning on going to is able to help the kittens; if they aren’t, ask them to refer you to another shelter that may be able to help.

-If the kittens are older/larger, are active, playful, and running and walking around without issue, then they are likely of an age where they aren’t depending on mom quite as much.  Contact your local animal shelter and ask about the best course of action; trap-neuter-return (TNR) might be the best choice for the cat family, hopefully including mom, or it may be appropriate to bring them to an animal shelter for adoption or foster care.

-If the kittens appear healthy but are really small and young, then mom is probably nearby, and typically their best chance at growing big and staying healthy is by staying with mom.  Mom might be off hunting and planning on returning to her babies later; you can check on them every couple of hours if possible, to see how they’re doing or if there is any sign that mom returned, even briefly.  Try putting a ring of flour around the kittens, so you can check for paw prints.  If you feel like the spot the kittens are in isn’t safe, you can move them a short distance away, or even put out a cardboard box and let them all snuggle up in that.  As long as you don’t move them too far, mom will be able to find them.  If you’ve seen no sign of mom after 12 hours or so, contact your local animal shelter and see what they advise- the young kittens may need a foster home or other help from the shelter!  If mom has returned, however, that means the kitties are being cared for and should stay with mom- you can contact your local shelter for information on what to do concerning spay and neuter and when it should happen.

Kittens

If you’ve lost your pet:

First Steps

  1. Start searching immediately.
  2. Post and search for your lost pet on Nextdoor.com, SCAS’s Lost & Found page, and Craigslist in the Community section under Lost & Found and Pets.
  3. Check surrounding animal shelters here. Some well-meaning people may pick up your pet and take it to the closest shelter, which may not be Humane Society of Sonoma County!
  4. Create and distribute flyers and post signs in high traffic areas.
  5. Distribute flyers in vet clinics, pet stores, groomers, pet boarding facilities and other local businesses, with permission from each establishment.
  6. Don’t give up too quickly. Some lost pets are found within hours or days and others are found months or even years after disappearing. Don’t give up hope!

Petco Love Lost

Petco Love Lost (formerly Finding Rover) is a free service that helps to keep dogs and cats in our community protected and reunited with their owners, using facial recognition technology. As a Petco Love Lost partner, all of the animals that come into our care will be on Petco Love Lost as “Found”.

If you have lost your pet just click the “I lost a pet” button on their site to upload a photo of your pet and report them as “Lost”. You can check Petco Love Lost as often as needed until your pet is found.

Is your pet’s microchip up to date?

Step 1: Get Your Pet’s Microchip NUMBER
Don’t have your pets microchip number? Call your vet’s office as they may have it in their records OR bring your pet into the vet’s office, animal control, or animal shelter to be scanned.

Step 2: Get Your Pet’s Microchip TYPE/BRAND
Look up your pet’s microchip number on the AAHA Universal Pet Microchip Lookup site — or check with https://www.foundanimals.org/microchip-registry/ and if your pet is registered it will tell you where the chip is registered, when it was last updated and provide the necessary information about how to get in touch to check and update your contact information.

Step 3: Check & Update Your Contact Information With The Registry
With your pet’s microchip number and the name and contact info of the registry, you can call them or go onto their website to update your contact info.