Lost Dog, Cat or Other Pet Reports

If you have lost a pet you should immediately file a lost dog, cat or other pet report with the Animal Welfare League of Arlington either online or by calling 703-931-9241 x 200.

File a Lost Dog, Cat, Other Pet Report Online
(Virginia and DC Metro Area only)

If you have a digital photo, you can email it (as an attachment in jpg format, please) to the League after submitting your online lost report.

Lost & found reports submitted online are checked on weekdays only.

*Search Stray Cats at the Arlington Shelter
*Search Stray Dogs at the Arlington Shelter
*Search Stray Small Companion Animals at the Arlington Shelter

*Please note that stray animals are listed to assist owners who are searching for lost pets. Please do not call or e-mail to inquire about adopting these animals.

If you file a lost report and later find your pet on your own, please call the League to let us know that we can remove your report.

We also take reports of found animals from the public that are not included in this list, so it is important to file a lost pet report with us.

Procedures for Lost Dogs, Cats and Other Pets

Pets without identification are held as stray for at least five days.

Pets with collars, microchip identification, tattoos, or other signs of ownership are held for at least 10 days while we make every effort to contact their owners.

Pets not claimed by owners may become candidates for our adoption program. Animals may not be adopted until after their stray holding period has expired.

Reclaiming Your Lost Pet

How to Look for Your Lost Pet

Don't Wait!

Call your local shelters as soon as you notice that your pet is lost. Don't wait to see if the pet will return on its own.

It’s important that you file a lost pet report with a current photo with all the animal shelters in your area. Sometimes animals can wander far from home or someone who finds your pet might not take it to the closest animal shelter.

Notify friends and neighbors that your pet is lost.

Contact veterinary practices in your area. They may have a Lost and Found bulletin board in their offices.

Read the "found" notices in the classified sections of your local newspapers.

If your neighborhood permits, post fliers in the area where you lost your pet. (Print a lost cat or lost dog template.)

Don’t give up! Lost pets have been reunited with their owners after weeks and even months.

Prevent Your Pet From Straying

A common reason a pet will stray from home is that it isn’t spayed or neutered and is looking for a mate. Spaying or neutering eliminates an animal’s reproductive instincts and decreases the chances of its straying from home.

Don't leave your pet outside when you're not at home. Dogs can jump over or dig under fences, and gates are sometimes left open by accident. Your dog is safer inside. We recommend keeping cats indoors at all times for their own safety.

Make Sure Your Pet Gets Back Home

Keep a current rabies tag, license tag, and an identification tag with your address and phone numbers.

Make sure that your address and phone numbers are correct with the veterinarian who provided your pet’s most recent vaccinations and with your pet's microchip registry.

A microchip identification implant is the size of a grain of rice and is inserted under an animal’s skin. It contains a number that is filed with a national registry. The registry keeps owner contact information. When a shelter or veterinary clinic finds an implant on a lost pet, they contact the registry. To get a microchip ID for your pet, come to one of our rabies and microchipping clinics or contact a veterinarian.

Every dog and cat adopted since 2006 from the Animal Welfare League of Arlington has either a Home Again or an AVID microchip ID implant. If you have a League pet and haven’t kept your contact information current with the national registry, please contact Home Again Pet Recovery Service at http://www.homeagainid.com or call 1-866-738-4324 or AVID at http://www.avidid.com/ or call 1-800-336-2843.

Found Pets

If you have found a stray pet, please either bring the animal into the shelter or report the animal so that we can help locate the pet's owner.

File a Found Pet Report