When a pet is lost, many families will go to great lengths to guarantee their safe return, even offering big cash rewards. In this edition of Pet Pointers, Lisa Chelenza has a few tips to help you increases the chances you will be reunited with your pet.

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If your pet is on the loose, contact local animal shelters and animal control agencies. File a lost pet report with every shelter within a 50 mile radius of your home and call or visit the local shelters every day. Provide these agencies with an accurate description and a recent photo of your pet. Notify the police if you believe your pet was stolen.

Search the neighborhood. Walk or drive through your neighborhood several times each day. Ask neighbors and delivery people if they have seen your pet. Hand out flyers with a photo of your pet and information on how you can be reached if your pet is found.

Advertise. Post signs at grocery stores, veterinary offices, traffic intersections, and any location that will let you. Place ads in newspapers, as many papers will give you a lost or found ad free for a week. Include a detailed description of your pet, with sex, age, weight, breed, color, and any special markings. But, when describing your pet, leave out one identifying characteristic and ask the person who finds your pet to describe it. If they can’t tell you that detail, you may be the target of a scam.

Don't give up your search. Animals who have been lost for months or even years have been returned home safely.

Having your pet micro chipped is an extra precaution just in case they get out and are lost.

If you find a pet, please report it and try to find the owner. Someone may be missing them.