Your pet is missing and every minute counts. This step-by-step guide improves your chances of getting your pet home quickly. Most animals are found within a few kilometres of home.
The first few hours
- Search the immediate area. Look in sheds, garages, cellars, under cars and in bushes. Cats often hide quietly nearby; dogs sometimes wander further. Call your pet at the times it normally gets fed and rattle its food bag.
- Put familiar smells outside. An item of clothing you have worn, its bed or its litter tray by the door will help your pet find its way back.
- Post a free report on Ik ben vermist. Add a clear photo, the place where your pet was last seen and any distinctive features. We create a poster and flyers straight away, and neighbours with a neighbourhood alert get a notification.
The first day
- Check the microchip registration. Make sure your contact details are correct in the Belgian database: DogID for dogs, CatID for cats. Report there as well that your pet is missing.
- Notify the local police zone and your municipality. Found animals are often reported to them.
- Call the animal shelters and vets in your area. Give your name, phone number and microchip number, and ask them to call you if an animal that looks like yours comes in.
- Put up posters. At the baker’s, the supermarket, the vet and on lampposts within a few hundred metres. Put flyers through the letterboxes in your street and the surrounding streets.
- Share your report. Local Facebook groups (“Missing pets [municipality]”), neighbourhood WhatsApp groups and Nextdoor quickly reach a lot of people. Your report includes a ready-made text to copy.
Afterwards
- Search in the evening and early in the morning too, when it is quiet.
- Regularly check the found and spotted animals in your area.
- Renew your report when it expires, and mark it as Back home as soon as your pet is back.
Beware of scammers
Is someone asking for money before you can see your pet again, or wanting to meet in a remote spot? Be careful. Ask for a recent photo or a detail that is not in your report, and arrange to meet in a public place or at a vet.