Lost Pets

If you have recently lost your pet in or near Escondido, San Marcos, or Poway, it may end up at the Animal Control Center at the Escondido Humane Society. The Animal Control Center is contracted to accept strays found in the incorporated areas of these cities.

Please visit us during operating hours (10 am - 6 pm, seven days a week) if you have lost your pet. If you have a picture of your pet, please bring it with you.

Please note that impounded or stray animals are held at our Animal Control Center for five (5) days, unless otherwise noted on an individual animal basis (ie, certain quarantines or hearing holds), or the five day hold is inhumane (ie, a severely injured animal, or an animal with a fatal, communicable illness). These exceptions are rare.

After the five (5) day hold, if the owner does not contact the Animal Control Center and/or reclaim the animal in person, the animal's ownership is automatically transfered to the nonprofit center at the Escondido Humane Society. Thus, we highly recommend that you promptly and frequently check our center if you have lost your pet.

We medically examine and behavior test animals prior to placement in our Adoption Center, whether they are owned by the Escondido Humane Society after a stray hold expired or as an owner-surrendered animal.

Our behavior testing, completed by a full-time, on-site staff behaviorist, is designed to determine the traits and safety of an animal. Based on these exams, we will either place an animal into our Adoption Center, place it into our Adoption Center but with restrictions (such as "no young children" for animals who might jump and possibly knock a child over), or determine that the animal is unsafe for the public. In these cases of animals who fail temperment testing twice, or have a history or a demonstration of a bite and are not a candidate for our behavior rehabilitation program, the animal is humanely euthanized. Though we are "animal-people," we always do our best to ensure that all pets in our Adoption Center are safe for the public. We have a responsibility to make these difficult decisions.

If you have any questions about our policy, please contact us at (760) 888 - BARK.

We will escort you through our stray kennels, file a lost report, look through our found reports, and post a missing pet poster in our lobby (if you bring one with you).

Feel free to check our center often (at least once every three days) to see if your lost pet has been picked up or turned in. Sometimes people will hold on to animals that they find and not even think to bring them into the shelter. For this reason, you should post flyers around the area where your pet was lost and in local pet stores and veterinary hospitals and place a lost pet advertisement in the newspaper. That service is usually low cost or free.

Even if your lost pet is not listed above, we encourage you to call us at (760) 888 - BARK
or visit us in person. It is possible that the animal is here and has not been posted yet.

Please note that our lost animals are not yet available for adoption. Our priority is to reunite animals with their owners. After the stray hold is expired, an animal must undergo behavioral evalulation, spay/neuter, and veterinary treatment if required. The time required for this process varies widely. Thus, our Adoption Counselors cannot place stray animals on hold, or provide an accurate timeframe from the hold period to Adoption. If you are interest in adopting, please visit our "Adoptable Animals" section under "Adoptions" to view animals who are ready for new homes.