Clark County SPCA | 21 Walter Street | Springfield, Ohio 45506
You’ve run across a dog that’s wandering around your neighborhood, was playing in traffic, or just aimlessly walking down the street without an owner. What do you do now? Here are some guidelines for finding the animal’s owner and what to do next.
- Does the dog have identification or a license?
- If the dog has a dog license on, check the Auditor’s website to see the registration info. Hopefully the information is current, and you can locate the owner this way. Call the Auditor’s Office at (937)521-
1860.
- Call the shelter. The owner may be looking for their buddy!
- Call the shelter and leave a Found Report. We’ll match these up with any calls we receive for lost animals. With a little luck, the animal will be home in no time!
- Clark County SPCA: (937)925-
6602
- Talk to your neighbors.
- Many times animals don’t stray too far from home. This lost pet may have lost their way, or maybe just isn’t ready to end their adventure. Make sure your neighbors haven’t lost their little one.
- Take the animal to a Vet or the shelter to check for a microchip.
- We all want to see an animal go back home. We’re happy to check the animal for a microchip and pass along how to contact the owner. Most Vet’s offices are happy to do the same.
- I can’t care for the animal, but I don’t want them on the street.
- The Dog Warden’s Office is happy to come and pick up the stray during normal business hours. They’ll house the animal for a few days and see if the owner comes looking for them. If the owner doesn’t claim them, they’ll be placed up for adoption…and will hopefully find a new home!
- Clark County Dog Warden: (937)505-
3223 - Clark County Sheriff (non-
emergency): (937)328- 2560
- I think I’d like to keep the animal if I can’t find their proper owner…
- We know all too well how easy it is to fall in love with them! However, there are certain rules to follow to make sure the pet becomes yours legally as well as in your heart.
- It’s a good rule to follow through with the above listed items. At the very least you need to post somewhere publicly that you’ve found a lost animal for at least 10 days. You can do so at the shelter and/or in the newspaper. You may run a “found animal” ad in the paper for 3 days at no charge. If after the ad has run, the posting at the shelter has yielded no results, and the ten days has passed, you need to legally license the dog under your name, and get the dog inoculated against Rabies. Typically you have 30 days to do so. It’s also wise to get the animal checked out by your veterinarian to make sure there isn’t an ongoing issue with the animal.