To file a lost or found pet report, please email the shelter at DASLostPetReports@fairfaxcounty.gov with the following information:
- Your full name.
- Your address.
- Your phone number.
- Your email address.
- Type of report (lost pet, or found pet).
- The address that the pet was either lost or found at.
- The date and time the pet was lost or found.
- The type of animal (dog, cat, rabbit, ferret, reptile, etc).
- A current photo of the animal.
- A description of the animal. (Please be as descriptive as possible, and include their name, gender (including whether spayed or neutered), appearance, general age, weight estimate, breed guess, color, and markings. If the pet is a cat, please include whether he/she is declawed or not.)
- Whether the pet was wearing a collar, harness, leash, sweater, etc. Please indicate if your pet is microchipped or not, and if yes provide the microchip number.
- Yes or no: may the shelter share your first name and contact information with the owner/finder if a possible match is found. If yes, please specify which contact methods (phone number and/or email address).
If you have lost a pet, one of the first things you should do is file a lost pet report with us. Our staff diligently checks every stray animal who arrives to the shelter, and every found pet report, against the lost pet reports filed online. The more complete and detailed you can be, the better!
If you've found a stray pet and are planning on holding on to that pet yourself until an owner can be found, it is imperative to file a found pet report so that shelter staff can try to match the pet up with a lost report, to reunite them with their family.