Find Your Lost Pet

Begin the search for your lost pet immediately by following these steps. To ensure prompt attention, please do not email us regarding lost pets.

1Visit NOCO Humane in-person as soon as possible.

If you are confident that you see your pet on our Lost & Found pages, please confirm which of our two campuses your pet is being held and come visit us in person. Checking for your lost pet in-person is the only way to positively confirm if we have your pet. Proof of ownership is required to reclaim your lost pet. Visit the contact page for locations and operating hours.

2If we do not have your pet, we’ll help you to complete a lost report.

Our Client Services team will assist you in-person with completing a Lost Pet Report. Between Larimer and Weld campuses, come to the shelter in the county you reside. Please bring a current photo of your pet.

3Continue to monitor the Lost & Found pages on our website.

Our website is updated every 15 minutes. Be sure to check back often to see if your pet found their way to either of our shelters. As mentioned above, if you are confident you see your pet on our website, visit us in-person to verify he or she is yours.

VIEW STRAY DOGS VIEW STRAY CATS VIEW STRAY CRITTERS

4Let your friends, family, and neighborhood know that your pet is missing.

Place a lost pet on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, X, Nextdoor, Colorado Lost & Found Pets, or neighborhood watch pages.
Post flyers at local veterinary hospitals, feed stores, and other privately owned business as allowed. Note: Posting signage on public property is illegal.
Post a flyer on the designated signage board at your local dog park.
Notify your neighbors and ask for their assistance. If you’ve lost a cat, ask your neighbors to check their garages, tool sheds, and barns in case your pet found a nook to crawl into for safety.
Place your cat’s litter box or an article of your clothing outdoors in case your cat is able to identify the familiar scent and locate your home. Indoor-only cats may need more assistance finding their way home.
Call for your cat in the evening or early morning hours when the neighborhood is quiet. Shy cats may need coaxing to come out of hiding.
Contact or visit surrounding shelters such as the Cheyenne Animal Shelter, Longmont Humane Society, or Humane Society of Boulder Valley.

Petco Love Lost – an alternative resource to finding your loved one

In addition to filing a lost or found report with us, we encourage you to explore Petco Love Lost—a free, national resource that uses facial recognition technology to help reunite lost pets with their families. Simply upload a photo of your missing pet to search a growing database of found animals from shelters and the community. As proud partners of Petco Love Lost, we’re happy to share this tool as another way to help bring pets home.
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Click here to learn more

Lost Pet FAQs and Pet Loss Prevention

Stray Hold

Per state law, stray animals will be held for five days, giving their owner an opportunity to reclaim their pet. Once the five-day waiting period is over, the pet will then officially belong to NOCO Humane. If you are in this situation, please reclaim your lost pet as soon as possible to minimize impound fees and reduce stress on your pet.

Fees

If your pet is at either of our shelter campuses, you will be required to pay impound and boarding fees when reclaiming. If you live in Larimer County and your pet does not have a current Larimer County license, you will be required to purchase one at our NOCO Humane Larimer Campus.

Impound fees range from $40-$70 and are based on your residential jurisdiction and licensing requirements. In addition to the impound fee, an additional $15 boarding fee will apply per calendar day. Please contact our Client Services team at either location for additional information. Larimer Campus: 970.226.3647 ext. 0; Weld Campus: 970.506.9550 ext. 0.

View local ordinances and fees for stray animals in:

Licenses

A license is your pet’s ticket home, and pet licensing is the law in Larimer County. Licensed pets that wander away from home can be returned to their owners without ever coming to the shelter. Lost pets not in compliance with the local pet license ordinance (in Larimer County) will be brought to NOCO Humane.

Pet loss prevention

Even the most responsible pet owners can be accidentally separated from their pets. Follow these steps to prevent your pet from getting lost and to increase the chances of them making it back home should they go missing.

Keep a collar, license, and identification tag on your pet at all times. Lost animals wearing identification are usually returned directly home.
Microchip your pet. Microchips are a painless, permanent form of identification. The inert microchip inserted under your pet’s skin is encoded with contact information that is registered in a national database and can be traced back to you, 24-hours a day. Animal shelters/rescues and veterinarian offices have microchip scanners that allow the encoded information to be accessed.
Keep your cat indoors. Cats allowed to roam outside don’t live as long – it’s that simple. Consider building a safe enclosure for your cat or only allowing them outdoors when supervised. It’s especially important to confine your cat during dusk and dawn when coyotes, foxes, and hawks are looking for prey.
Have your pet spayed or neutered. Altered animals are less likely to roam from home, and if they do, they don’t contribute to pet-overpopulation.
Confine your dog. If your yard isn’t fenced, consider investing in a free-standing dog kennel. Tethering your dog is not a safe alternative and will not protect them from the elements, wildlife, theft, or dangerous entanglement. If your dog is left alone each day, consider doggy day care or a neighborhood cooperative play group.