Who should you contact if you’ve found a lost dog?

Every year hundreds of dogs are lost in Philadephia. If you come across a lost pet, do you know what to do? If you’re new to Mt. Airy or Chestnut Hill it may not be obvious who to call if you’ve found a lost dog.

Newsworks have compiled some useful tips to follow if you’ve found a lost pet.

Alex Chapman, owner of Phillydospot located at 8640 Germantown Ave., says that you should call area Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) shelters to let them know you’ve found a dog. This can be useful because an owner might only report their dog missing to their local SPCA. Calling several SPCA’s could potentially unite an animal with its family quicker.

Chapman says you could also post information on Craigslist.

Probably the most important thing you can do is, Chapman says, is take the dog to be scanned for micro chips, which includes the dog’s home information. This can also be done at any SPCA.

If the dog has a microchip installed, which is usually placed a few inches under the dog’s skin near the shoulder blade, the owners will be immediately notified.

Montgomery County SPCA Executive Director Carmen Ronio says people that find dogs can hold onto the dog while notifying the SPCA or bring the dog into the SPCA. But when a dog is placed at the SPCA, Ronio says, it will only be held for seven days before it is put up for adoption.

If you encounter an undomesticated animal such as an alligator, an SPCA employee says call the police. The SPCA primarily works with domesticated animals.

If you have found a lost dog what did you do? How was your experience with the local SPCA’s? What advice would you give to someone who found a lost dog?