All animals arriving at Ventura County Animal Services are scanned for a microchip implant. If your pet’s microchip is registered with your current contact information, we will make every attempt to contact you. Click here to register your pet’s microchip and ensure the contact information is up-to-date. Animals who arrive with any form of ID are placed on a 10-day stray hold. Animals who enter our shelter who do not have ID, are placed on a 5-day stray hold. After a stray hold is over the animal may be made available for adoption.
IF YOU LOST A PET
Please watch this video and follow the instructions below.
- Complete a LOST ANIMAL REPORT.
- View shelter pets at www.vcas.us/pets.
- Search our LIST OF DECEASED ANIMALS. This list provides descriptions and locations only.
- View the list of FOUND DOGS or FOUND CATS.
- Click here to create lost pet flyer. Offering a reward increases your chance of being reunited. Use the flyer to post on social media platforms, Next Door, Paw Boost, Petco Love Lost, and Craigslist.
- Post the flyer you just made to the appropriate Missing Pet Facebook page below. These pages are maintained by Good Samaritans in our community:
- Make LOST PET posters with bright background and big pictures.
- Check other shelters: Humane Society of Ventura County at (805) 646-6505 and Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center (S.P.A.R.C.) at (805) 525-8609.
- Additional Resources: Missing Pet Partnership, Lost Dogs Ventura County, Lost Cats Ventura County, Lost My Kitty.
All lost/stray animals are Tweeted through our automated VC Lost Pets account. Follow to keep updated on animals entering our shelter.
IF YOU LOST A CAT
If your cat is an indoor-only cat, they will typically stay close to home and may only travel 50 yards, about 2.5 house lengths away. At night, search the bushes around your house with a flash light. Cats instinctively won’t come out of a hiding place, but you can see their eyes reflect the light. Ask neighbors if you can check their backyards. Look under decks and in bushes.
Cats who have outdoor-access are typically found 344 yards away or 17 house lengths away.
IF YOU FOUND A PET
Please remember that the animal you found is not your pet and, according to VC Ordinance 4468-1, you cannot decide to keep them without taking a few steps. If you decide to hold the animal while trying to find the owner, you must make a concerted effort to look for the owners for thirty (30) days. The 30 days starts from the day you complete a found animal report, not from the time you found the dog. Within those 30 days, you are not allowed to give the dog away, have someone keep the dog for you, or alter the dog in any way until the 30 days is over. At this time, you can have them vaccinated against Rabies and get them licensed. What to do next:
- Fill out a found animal report.
- Call any numbers you find on the animal’s ID tag.
- If the animal has a QR code ID tag, scan it by holding your phone’s camera to the code and tap on the link that appears. If the pet has a metal tag, call (805) 388-4341 during normal business hours and read us the License Tag number so we can contact the owner.
- Take the animal to a Veterinary Clinic or Hospital to get scanned for a microchip. Visit www.PetMicrochipLookUp.org to search the national database.
- Click here to create a FOUND ANIMAL flyer. Print the flyers and post around the neighborhood in which the animal was found.
- Walk the dog around the area they were found and ask people if they recognize the dog.
- Search Missing Pet Facebook pages and post FOUND ANIMAL flyer you just made:
- Post the FOUND ANIMAL flyer on Next Door, Paw Boost, Petco Love Lost, and Craigslist.
- BE CAUTIOUS: If someone contacts you and says they are the owner, have them provide proof before you meet. If they cannot send you photos of them with their animal, be wary. They can also send you photos of any adoption paperwork they may have. If you’re returning an animal to their owner, meet them at a public place such as a Police or Fire Station. Never meet them at a private residence.
- KEEPING THE ANIMAL: By law, you must continue to search for the owner for at least 30 days (V.C. Ordinance 4468-1) after which you can claim ownership by registering the animal under your name at the shelter.
Facial Recognition Technology Helps Bring Animals Home!
Is your pet missing? Don’t panic. Simply upload a photo of your dog or cat to the Petco Love Lost database and the groundbreaking technology will scan for a match to help find them. #PetcoLoveLost