Found a Pet?
What to do?
The Hamilton County animal shelter is VERY full! If you are able to hold the animal through the state-required 3-day stray hold, please do! We will provide any supplies or support you need including a medical exam and vaccines. File a found pet report at 513-541-7387. Please consider the shelter as a LAST RESORT for any lost animal.
If you have recently found a lost pet, we appreciate you taking it into your care. Most pets are found within 1 mile of where they became lost, therefore we recommend knocking on 5 doors in each direction from where the dog was found in hopes that someone will recognize them. Pet supply stores, veterinarians, and Cincinnati Animal CARE are all locations that are able to scan for a microchip with the owner's information.
You can also file a found pet report with PawBoost, which integrates with our website.
If none of these methods work, take a photo of the dog and any identifying features and post to local neighborhoods on social media. This is a quick way to reach hundreds of people at once! Make sure to include when/where they were found and contact information.
Once a dog leaves their neighborhood, their chances of being reunited with their owner drops from 70% to 17%, but you can help avoid that by fostering them and Cincinnati Animal CARE can assist in finding their new home if they are not reunited with their owner!
Community Sheltering and neighbors helping neighbors is a crucial element to making animal shelters no-kill nationwide. Most lost pets do not need to come into an overwhelming, overcrowded shelter environment!
All intakes must go through Hamilton County Dog Wardens via phone at 513-541-7387. We do not take in animals from the public at any CAC location and we cannot dispatch officers via web or social media.
