From missing to home, in four steps
Lost.ca connects the two halves of a lost-pet story: the owner searching, and the neighbour who just saw something. Here's how each side of the site works.
If you've lost a pet
1. Post a lost-pet listing
Go to Report a lost pet. The form takes about a minute: your pet's name, species, breed, colour, where they were last seen, a photo, and how owners can reach you (phone, email, or both). Your listing goes live immediately.
2. Share the link
Once your listing is live, you get a permanent URL like lost.ca/pet/L-4821-maple. Share it on Facebook groups, neighbourhood apps, family chats, and anywhere pets are discussed locally. One share can be the one that reaches the right pair of eyes.
3. Scan the Found feed
Most reunions on Lost.ca happen because the owner spots their pet in someone else's sighting. Browse the Found feed, filter by species and city, and check back often. Your dashboard also highlights recent sightings near you that match your pet's profile.
4. Reunite
When you spot a sighting that looks like your pet, click This is my pet on that post. The finder is notified, the sighting is marked as reunited, and you can coordinate directly through the contact info on their post.
If you've found a pet
1. Take a photo and note the location
A blurry phone photo is better than no photo at all. Note the nearest cross-streets or a landmark. If you can safely check the collar for a tag, do that first.
2. Post a sighting
Go to Post a sighting. It takes 30 seconds. No account needed. Share the pet's species, approximate size and colour, where you spotted them, and whether they're still there, at a shelter, or with you.
3. Let the owner find you
Owners scan the Found feed constantly. If your sighting matches someone's lost pet, the owner will reach out through the contact info you shared (optional). If you prefer to stay anonymous, you can post without contact info and still help — the sighting itself is the useful signal.
How we keep it trustworthy
- Moderation queue. Anyone can flag a suspicious post. Admins review the queue daily. Posts with three independent flags or no human review after a week are auto-removed.
- Contact info is private. Full phone numbers and emails only show to signed-in users — scrapers and spam bots see masked versions.
- Rate limits and CAPTCHA. All forms are protected against spam submissions, and we throttle anonymous page browsing to slow down data harvesting.
- Claim reversal. If a claim turns out to be wrong, the finder or a site moderator can reverse it in one click.