City of Arlington, TX :: Government :: Animal Services

LOST AND FOUND

If you have LOST a pet . . .

More than 60,000 pets are lost or stolen each year. Even the most responsible pet owner can experience circumstances, which allow a pet to stray or become lost. If your pet becomes lost, please utilize the following guidelines to assist you in locating your lost pet:

Search the immediate area around your residence and your neighborhood. Did you know that statistics show a majority of lost pets are not recovered by veterinarians, animal shelters, or humane societies, but by your neighbors. Most pets have no form of identification, thus owners cannot be located.
Talk to your neighbors and ask them to be on the lookout for your pet. Provide them a flyer with a description or picture of your pet and a telephone number where you may be contacted.
Each day, contact the Animal Services Center automated telephone system at 817-459-5898 and select the option which allows you to listen to a posting of animals impounded the previous business day. Stray animals are held for 72 hours, and animals with traceable identification are held for 7 business days, prior to becoming available for adoption or euthanized.
Please visit the Center each day to determine if your pet has been impounded. Each year approximately 11,000 animals are placed in our care. Due to the high volume of animals we receive, and the possibility of your animal being categorized as a different breed, we will not attempt to identify your pet over the phone.
Distribute and post flyers throughout your neighborhood, veterinarian offices, pet stores, mail carrier and other individuals who spend considerable amounts of time in your neighborhood. Please be aware that the posting of flyers, signs, or posters in a public right-of-way, median, or on a telephone pole, is a violation of city ordinance. Please contact 817-459-6777 for further information regarding the posting of flyers, posters and signs.
Run ads in your local papers under the lost and found section. Also, check ads daily for found pets.
File a lost animal report. Arlington Animal Services utilizes www.lostandfound.com to allow residents to report and search for lost pets online. Please click on the applicable link below:

Protect your pet from getting lost again. Take the necessary precautions to prevent escape in the future-fence repairs, etc. Always keep a collar and an identification tag on your pet, such as a City license and rabies vaccination tag. A tag is a lost pet’s ticket home. Consult with your veterinarian regarding permanent methods of pet identification, such as a microchip. Other important steps include keeping your pets supervised at all times and having them spayed or neutered. Finally, keep a photo of your pet on file in the event he or she strays again.
Occasionally, citizens will take found pets to the Humane Society of North Texas. They are located at 1840 E. Lancaster in Fort Worth. Their phone number is 817-332-4768.

Good luck in locating your pet. Please don’t hesitate to ask any of our staff members for assistance. If you do not have access to the internet, allows us to report a lost or found animal on the internet for you. Also, don’t give up looking after a few days. We have helped residents locate their pets weeks after they have disappeared.

If you have FOUND a pet . . .

If you have found a stray animal, you have several options to choose from. You must decide to hold the animal until you can locate the owner or you may decide to request that the animal be held at the Arlington Animal Services Center.

If you would like to hold the animal while attempting to locate the owners, please utilize the following guidelines in attempting to locate the owners:

File a found animal report. Arlington Animal Services utilizes www.lostandfound.com to allow residents to report and search for found pets online.
Notify local veterinarians
Check with your neighbors and post signs and/or hand out flyers in the area where the animal was found. Please be aware that the posting of flyers, signs, or posters in a public right-of-way, median , or telephone pole, is a violation of city ordinance. Please contact 817-459-6777 for further information regarding the posting of flyers, posters ands signs.
Attempt to trace any identification the animal may be wearing. Take the animal to a veterinarian or to the Animal Services Center to have it scanned for a microchip.
Run ads in your local papers under the lost and found section. Also, check ads daily for lost pets.

Please remember if the animals owner is found, please contact any agencies, organizations, or www.lostandfound.com where you have filed "found" reports so the reports can be cancelled and removed.

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