Lost Pets Fill Animal Shelters After July 4th Festivities, Petco Love Urging Pet Parents to Search for Them on Petco Love Lost

News provided by

Jul 06, 2023, 06:03 ET

SAN ANTONIO, July 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- More pets go missing on July 4^th than any other day of the year, which is why animal shelters across the U.S. that are already at-capacity are inundated with pets who went missing on the holiday. Petco Love, a national nonprofit, encourages people who lose or find a pet to use Petco Love Lost, the nonprofit's nationwide lost and found pet database.

A dog named Colombo, frightened by fireworks, ran off in the middle of the night, but was reunited with his grateful pet parent thanks to a good Samaritan and Petco Love Lost.

Petco Love Lost, the only lost and found pet reunification tool to leverage patented image-recognition technology, simplifies the search for missing pets by allowing pet parents to quickly and easily scan tens of thousands of pets found in animal shelters and by good Samaritans in their community with a photo upload. The free service encourages community members who find a lost pet to search the database to see if a pet's photo was uploaded and listed as "missing" and be put in contact with a worried pet parent.

July is National Lost Pet Prevention Month. "The risk of your pets going missing is much higher during the summer months as there are even more stressors for them than usual – loud gatherings, a change in routine, and travel to name a few," said Jackson Galaxy, cat behaviorist and wellness expert. "Petco Love Lost is a valuable resource to help keep your pets out of shelters and at home with you."

July 4^th fireworks cause extreme stress for some pets. Luis, a dedicated pet parent, knows all too well as his 1-year-old dog Colombo, frightened by fireworks, ran off in the middle of the night. Luis quickly uploaded his photo and listed him as missing to Petco Love Lost's database. Luckily, the family that found Colombo also used Petco Love Lost and contacted Luis. Luis and Colombo were reunited less than 24 hours after he went missing. "I was really impressed at how successful my search was for my dog on Petco Love Lost," said Luis. "I am very grateful that I found him."

Estimates suggest one in three pets goes missing in their lifetime, 10 million every year, and many never return home. "Luis' story shows the power of a community coming together to reunite lost pets," said Susanne Kogut, Petco Love President. "By using one central database for lost and found pet reports on PetcoLoveLost.org, we'll reunite the maximum number of pets across the country."

Other steps you can take to ensure your pets gets back home safely and quickly if they go missing are making sure your pet's microchip and collar or tag identification are up to date and ensure that your pet's collar and harness are secure. For Ring customers, Petco Love Lost launched a new integration with Ring's Neighbors app to connect their community members to reunite lost and found pets. Register your pet on Petco Love Lost and keep pet profiles up to date while they are safely in your care at lost.petcolove.org.

About Petco Love
Petco Love is a life-changing nonprofit organization that makes communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since our founding in 1999 as the Petco Foundation, we've empowered animal welfare organizations by investing $350 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We've helped find loving homes for more than 6.7 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide.

Our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating tools animal lovers need to reunite lost pets, and lead with passion, inspiring and mobilizing communities and our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us. Join us. Visit petcolove.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn to be part of the lifesaving work we lead every day.

SOURCE Petco Love