Once you’ve made it known that your pet is lost, individuals who will offer to find your pet, for a price, may contact you. Nine times out of ten, this is a scam of some sort.
Think about it: between your being in the neighborhood, posting both on the internet and in the real world, and checking any pet shelters your city may have, there really isn’t anything these “pet detectives” could do that isn’t already being done by you. And, you’re much more highly motivated!
Pet Shelters
And finally, assuming your foot search, mobile search, site posting, flyer posting, and everything else you could think of has been futile, most cities have at least one municipal animal shelter.
If your pet got loose and was picked up by animal control, they will be placed in one of these shelters. Most animal shelters will insist on holding on to your pet at least one day to ensure they don’t have any infectious diseases, and if your pet doesn’t have any tags, they will insist on inoculations, for a small fee, prior to their release.
Some animal shelters now feature websites where they will post pictures of pets they’ve found; even if yours doesn’t, it will at least have some sort of written ledger for recently lost pets, as well as stray animals people have found but not brought into the shelter, so you should check with them at least once every couple of days.
So take heart! Remember, there have been instances of lost pets returning to their families from thousands of miles away, even after being lost for several months. Good luck!