Lost & Found Pets at MAC
If you’ve lost your pet, we understand it can be a very stressful and scary time. Follow these steps below:
- Register your pet as ‘lost’ with the MAC team by calling (423) 305-6500 x3 or fill out an online report.
- Visit McKamey Animal Center and every other surrounding shelter to physically search for them.
- Notify friends and neighbors that your pet is lost with emails, posters and flyers. Sometimes your pet is just a block away! Post fliers in a minimum of a three mile radius of where the pet was lost.
- Check websites such as www.craigslist.org, www.nextdoor.com, www.pawboost.com, www.fidofinder.com, www.petharbor.com and www.petcolovelost.org
- Contact all veterinarians in your area. If there is a veterinary association see if they will do a broadcast email for you to all of their members.
- Contact any media lost and found websites, Facebook pages/groups or bulletin boards.
- Check “found” ads and take out a “lost” ad in local newspapers.
- Look through the animals listed below as ‘found’ and as ‘strays’ to see if you see your animal. If so, please call (423) 305-6500 x1 immediately.
- As heartbreaking as searching for a lost pet can be please DO NOT GIVE UP! Pet’s have been reunited with their owners months or even years after they were lost.
If you have found a stray pet, thank you for helping to save a life! Here are some steps to follow to help reunite them with their family:
- Secure the pet in a safe location. Assess for any medical emergencies. If the animal needs emergency assistance, please call our Animal Protection Team at (423) 305-6500 x1.
- Check to see which shelter you need to connect with. If you live within the City limits of Chattanooga, Red Bank or Lakesite, please contact MAC! If you’re unsure, you can use the GIS online system to find out. Scroll below for more resources.
- If the found pet is friendly, and in good shape, give the MAC Admissions Team a call at (423) 305-6500 x3 and follow the steps below.
- Post the found pet on websites such as www.craigslist.org, www.pawboost.com, www.fidofinder.com, www.petharbor.com and www.petcolovelost.org
- Post the found pet on community boards, Facebook pages/groups, etc.
- Make flyers and post around your neighborhood. Consider going door to door to see if it belongs to a neighbor!
- Take the pet to a local veterinarian (or MAC) to scan for a microchip or see if they recognize the animal as a patient.
- Stay near the area of where you found the pet! Pets often don’t go far when they are away from their homes.
- File a ‘Found Pet’ report with the MAC Admissions Team by calling (423) 305-6500 x3. If you are able to keep the animal, or have interest in adopting once the stray period has passed, you will be asked to become a ‘Finder Minder’.
- If you have found a cat that is outdoors, appears to be healthy and cared for, please leave it be! Community cats often have caretakers and are able to thrive outside. Bringing them to a shelter can be detrimental for their health and well-being. Read more on our Community Cats page.
- If you have found a kitten that appears clean, healthy and plump – put it back! Please do not ‘kit-nap’ – mom is likely close by! If the kitten is dirty, sick, or skinny, or mom is deceased or has not been seen for more than 24 hours, please call us ASAP at (423) 305-6500 x1 or (423) 305-6500 x3.
- If you are within the City limits of Chattanooga, Red Bank or Lakesite, please call for instructions regarding bringing the pet to MAC. This should be your last option. Animals have a much better chance of being reunited with their owner outside of a shelter. If you are outside our service area, please visit and check with your local shelter. Please call (423) 305-6500 x3.
Please check this the Hamilton County’s GISMO Mapping system to see where your address is.
If you live in unincorporated Hamilton County, please contact the Humane Educational Society or call (423) 624-5302.
If you live in East Ridge, please contact East Ridge Animal Services and Shelter or call (423) 664-0271.
Does Your Pet Have Proper ID?
You wouldn’t leave home without your identification, so why leave your pet vulnerable? McKamey Animal Center offers low-cost microchipping and City Licensing to cat and dog owners living in the Cities of Chattanooga, Red Bank or Lakesite.
These pets have been found as strays. Those without ID will be held for five days before being processed through the shelter system. Those with ID, or a known owner, will be held for ten days before being processed.
These pets have been found by Good Samaritans and are being cared for through our ‘Finder Minder’ program. These pets are not available for adoption. Pets that are not reclaimed within their stray period will be adopted by the finder minder, or brought to MAC to enter the sheltering system.
MAC Lost & Found Pets
Check the MAC Lost and Found Pets Facebook page for daily listings if you have lost your pet or are looking to reunite a pet with its owner.
Petco Love Lost Database
PawBoost Lost & Found Search
Contact Us
McKamey Animal Center
4500 N. Access Rd.
Chattanooga, TN 37415
(423) 305-6500
McKamey Animal Center was founded in 2008, serving the pets and people of the cities of Chattanooga, Red Bank and Lakesite, Tennessee. MAC is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization.
