Lost / Found a Pet

Come to the Animal Center to look for your lost pet as soon as possible. Due to the large number of animals, some may be held for only three days after intake. It is recommended you visit the shelter at least every other day to check for your lost pet.

If you’ve lost your pet:

Talk to your neighbors
Look for your pet in your neighborhood and surrounding areas
Post signs in your neighborhood
Come to the Animal Center every other day to check for your pet

Between shelter visits, search an online database of lost animals that are in the shelter. This is not as reliable as visiting the shelter in person and is not a substitute for visiting the shelter.

Found Pets

Most stray animals are owned by someone. Don’t keep an animal that you find without first making a real effort to locate the owner. Talk to neighbors and post signs.

If you can keep the found pet temporarily, call or contact 3-1-1 online to submit a Found Animal Report.
If you bring in a found pet, please provide info about where and when it was found.
If you have found a stray pet and cannot bring it to the shelter, contact 3-1-1. Animal Protection should be able to pick it up.

Open Intake Shelter

The Animal Center is an open-intake animal shelter serving the City of Austin and Travis County. It accepts any animal that needs shelter, regardless of age, health, species, breed or behavior, and no matter whether it is a stray or an owned animal.