How to Find Lost Pets - Using Craigslist to Find Your Dog or Cat

Most people think of using Craigslist only for buying or selling things but they don't realize there are a myriad of other things you can do there. Posting a lost pet ad is one of those.

I'm a big advocate of using Craigslist for many things- and one of the best success stores I've had on Craigslist is using it to find my lost dog.

I have many animals, 4 cats and 3 dogs to be exact. I consider myself a good fur-baby mother and I make sure my pets are fed and exercised and have lots of attention. Even with the best of intentions, however, sometimes my animals lose track of me, or should I say I lose track of them? I try my best to be ever vigilant to watch where they are, but sometimes the little rascals fly under my radar.

One such day was when my my little chihuahua Hyphy decided to be adventurous and take a tour of the front of our business without me knowing it. She inadvertently slipped out the side door and before I realized it, little Hyphy was gone. Frantic, my husband and I searched high and low for her, and couldn't find tail nor trace of her, We knew she hadn't been hit, and that someone had probably took her. Adding insult to injury I had taken off her ID tag to give her a bath, so although she had her harness on, her ID tag was not on her.

Beside myself with panic, the first thing I thought of was to use the Craigslist function for lost pets . I immediately posted pictures of Hyphy, a description of her and where she had disappeared. I hoped for the best but honestly, I figured Hyphy might be gone for good because she is such a sweet little dog.

Miraculously, within an hour I got a call on my cell phone from a lady that said she had picked up a chihuahua on our street about an hour before. I described her, and I was shocked when I realized it was Hyphy. I really didn't think that this story was going to have a good ending.

Hyphy came home that night and as it turns out, the lady that brought her home was one of our customers. She described how she had been driving by our building and saw a little dog on the sidewalk , She said she was afraid that Hyphy was going to get hit by a car so she picked her up, took her home and immediately started looking on Craigslist to see if anyone had lost their dog.

Since then I have used Craigslist again to post a lost pet, this time for my cat Elvis. Sadly, the second time around has not been successful and Elvis has not returned. I still have hopes though that perhaps someone will see his pictures and call me. Elvis is a very independent and smart cat, so I pray that he will return home safely.

Losing a precious cat or dog that is part of the family is a very traumatic experience, even devastating. Using every available source out there may help you find your lost friend, and using Craigslist is one of the services that can help you- I'm proof of that.

So if you are ever in the unfortunate situation of losing your dog or cat - don't forget to post an ad on Craigslist. When you post make sure you put some pictures up of your lost pet, along with as much information as you can- markings, size, color, weight, and where you last saw your pet. The more information the better. Also make sure you put a phone number where you can be reached- along with any other information you think might be helpful to be finding your lost fur-baby.

And if you know of someone who has lost a pet, make sure you let them know about Craigslist's free service, Who knows, maybe you might help them bring their precious fur-baby home! Let them now how to find a lost pet using Craigslist. Good luck and rapid speed to hopefully a happy reunion with your fur-baby!

(Dorsi Diaz is a freelance writer who shares many stories about Craigslisting and other life stuff)