Data Inclusion Policy

Our number one goal is to reunite lost pets with their families.  In an effort to prioritize returning a pet home, we encourage our animal welfare partners to share all animal intake photos and information, with the minimal exception of animals confiscated or other animals where displaying such photos is ill advised. 

It is our position that all owners should be provided the opportunity to find their lost pets regardless of the time since such pet went missing or the type of sheltering organization.  There can be many reasons for a pet parent’s delay in finding a lost pet including lack of awareness of where an owner should even begin their search.   

To date, we have discovered inconsistencies among lost pet data feeds, and many organizations whose lost and found databases show very few pets.  Until we can reconcile all data feeds to assure initial input is accurate and inclusive, we will also display pets showing in adoptable databases.   

We hope you will join us in the efforts to prioritize returning lost pets to the families that love them by displaying inclusive lost pet data feeds and support our efforts to accomplish this goal. 

Please read the below FAQs for additional information.  We hope we can work together to let go of policies, bias and systems that work against the ultimate goal of reuniting lost pets with their families.   

Frequently asked questions: 

1. What if a pet is no longer in our organization? Any pet that has an outgoing status (whether adopted, transferred to another organization, returned to owner, euthanized etc.) will no longer display in the data feed of your organization. 
2. Why would you show a pet that is adoptable? Our preference is not to show pets based on a status that changes over time, but to instead have an inclusive intake status that is broader than simply brought in as a stray. Including based on adoptable status is simply done temporarily until all data feeds are reconciled to include all intake statuses.  
3. Why would you display pets after the stray hold has expired or pets that a non-animal control shelter takes in as a transfer to be put up for adoption?  Stray holds vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and time periods should not be a barrier to sending a pet home to its family.  Additionally, while those deeply knowledgeable about differences of organization types, the general public simply does not know the difference between an animal control shelter, or any other organization, and does not understand where they must look for lost pets.  Organizations always have discretion on how to handle returning pets to an owner once a stray hold expires and can charge different amounts or require an adoption fee for costs incurred.  While organizations may have various requirements when that family seeks to get their lost pet back that vary depending on the pet’s status, we should never limit a pet parent’s opportunity to find their lost family member.   
4. Our organization only does adoptions, so all pets in our care are not stray pets.  The intake status at the time a pet enters your organization, may or may not be indicative of what happened to the pet prior to entering your facility.  We should ask ourselves, why we celebrate the return of lost pets to their families a year later due to the scanning of a microchip, and at the same time, seek to prevent a pet parent access to finding a pet via a photo database simply because the stray hold has expired, and a pet is transferred to your organization.  We should all prioritize returning pets home and eliminate all barriers that reduce achieving this goal.