Social media is an important part of a missing pet search as the information reaches a vast amount of people in a short period of time. However, it can be difficult to know what information you should include and how to present it for the best results.
Picture choice - Choosing the best photo is essential. Ideally, you need a photo that shows your missing pet as clearly as possible, making sure it shows any distinctive markings, the colouring of your pet and a clear shot of your pet’s face. This will help people to easily identify your pet and report accurate sightings. You want people to engage with your post, so adding in some cute photos is also encouraged.
Caption content - Including all the appropriate information is key to helping the public know your missing pet and to identify the pet if needed. Key information we recommend is:

• Name of pet (unless a dog – we understand this is a contentious issue. However, we believe on balance it useful information to share and people are more likely to become invested in trying to find your dog if they know its name.
• Date they went missing.
• Location.  For safety reasons, we suggest you don’t post your full location. We recommend posting just the first part of your postcode and the number that follows and never mention your house/flat number.
• Brief details of how they disappeared:  escaped through a door, startled by another animal etc.
• If your pet is chipped, neutered or wearing a collar when they went missing.

Here is a useful template that you can use for your caption
LOST PET TEMPLATE:

MISSING 'ANIMAL TYPE'
Location - YOUR AREA
Name - NAME
Chipped/Not Chipped
Neutered/Not Neutered
/ NAME was/was not wearing a collar
Additional notes about behaviour/the look of your pet.

The main aim of social media is to reach the local community, so posting on local Facebook groups and online notice boards is a perfect way to target these people. If you are focusing on Facebook, you can target your postcode area through a ‘boosted Facebook post’. This does exactly what it says - boosting your post to people in your postcode which will give you that little extra help to reach the people you need most.

In our experience this is crucial to reuniting lost pets with their owners. The more leaflets you can distribute the better as, of course, this means more people are aware of your missing pet. Around 20 to 50 good quality posters in your local area are recommended, but this depends how built up your neighbourhood is and the likely search area.  These can be displayed at:

• Bus stations/stops
• School receptions
• Lamp posts
• Street intersections
• Shop windows
• Surgery waiting rooms
• Pubs/restaurants
• Neighbours house and car windows.

Putting up posters without local council permission can be considered as ‘fly-postering’, which can face you with a fine. The vast majority of local councils and neighbourhoods will tolerate missing pet posters, so long as they’re in good condition, not attached to trees or bushes (which can be damaged by the fixings) and removed after a ‘reasonable’ time. Each area will have its own interpretation of ‘reasonable’ time, however we suggest between 4 and 8 weeks would normally be acceptable.
Posters printed on standard paper will deteriorate quickly.  This could become unsightly to your neighbours, or your local Environmental Health Officer, and be counter-productive to your search, so try and ensure any in bad condition are replaced quickly.
Our Missing Pet Posters and Leaflets ensure that all posters are excellent condition, professionally designed and printed, weatherproof and anti-vandal – they’re almost impossible to rip – and consequently look great until you take them down. They come with our unique patented clips that do not damage the post they’re attached to and ensure the poster is displayed flat, as opposed to curved round poles.
Please remember that if you have pet insurance, often your policy will cover the cost of Advertising for a Missing Pet.  Similar to social media posts, you should carefully consider the information you are put on your own posters and leaflets. Here are some tips to help you:

• Do not disclose your full address or your house number.
• Do not disclose your personal phone number if you can avoid it. You can purchase a pay as you go sim to use temporarily. Our Missing Pet Posters and Leaflets include our own 0800 freephone number, which is answered by our 24 / 7 Owner Support Team based in Chester, UK, so they can filter out hoax and offensive calls before passing messages on to you.
• Do not advertise a reward value – it is okay to say you are offering a reward, but large, advertised cash rewards can encourage hoax callers and it could put your pet at risk of being stolen in the future. We suggest to just state ‘reward’ and avoid any mention of an amount.
• Do not advertise your pet's microchip number but do state if your pet is chipped.
• Do not mention the breed of your pet on your posters or leaflets as expensive pedigree breeds are more at risk of being stolen.
• If your pet is neutered, you should include this information as they cannot be used for breeding and may therefore be less desirable. If they are not neutered it is best not to mention this as it may increase their desirability due to the potential for breeding.
• Where possible, avoid using free-ad websites like Gumtree. We are aware of many people who have fallen victim to disturbing hoax calls after advertising their missing pets on these types of sites.

It is important to keep yourself safe whilst responding to sightings of your pet. Follow these tips to help with this:

• Always tell someone where you are going. If possible, go with a relative or friend, especially if you are going to someone's house or to an isolated area.
• Always take your mobile phone with you, and make sure it is fully charged.
• Do not carry large amounts of cash - rewards can be paid later. If the finder is genuine, they will not mind this and you can exchange details to make a bank transfer or arrange to meet up again for the reward to be paid. If you are insured your insurance company will let you know how they pay rewards. This is usually paid directly to the finder by cheque.
• If possible, drive to the location rather than walking or using public transport. As well as being safer, this also means that you will be able to get straight to a vet should your pet need it.
• Be extremely cautious of callers who repeatedly ask questions about your pet's value, or about a reward or money for information.
• Take a pet basket or carrier, a collar and lead if appropriate.

Even though your pet may be microchipped, it is important to contact as many of your local vets and rescues as possible; this is often a condition of your pet insurance. If your pet is microchipped and the details are up to date, you will be contacted if they are handed in. However, if a person spots your pet but is unable to catch it, they may only be able to report the sighting, so it is best to be sure your local vets are aware that your pet is missing.
Leaving a stack of leaflets with local vets would be a great way to target your local community. In addition, other pet lovers who visit the surgery are likely to empathise with you and be keen to help. You can also ask your vet to share your poster on social media to help with awareness.
We recommend you contact all vets and rescues within a five-mile radius of where you believe your pet went missing to cover all potential establishments they could be taken to. Check in with them weekly to ask if they have had any sightings reported. It is valuable to build a rapport with local vets and rescues so they can help and support you during this time.

If your pet is microchipped you should always ring your microchip company to let them know your pet is missing; this is often a condition of your pet insurance. It is important to ensure all your information, including address and phone number, is accurate so that they can contact you if your pet is found. For a small charge some microchip companies offer extra help, such as sending out an alert to all local vets. Reporting your pet as missing will lock the chip to prevent the details being changed which is important if you believe you pet may have been stolen.
You can find out who your microchip company is by searching on Petlog or by contacting your vet. When contacting Petlog you will need to know your pet’s microchip number.
If your pet was microchipped outside the UK, providing you have the microchip number, you can contact Petlog who, for a small fee, will add the details of your international chip to their database. 

It's a distressing call to have to make, but it is important to find out who is responsible for collecting animals that have sadly been involved in road accidents in your area. Your local council will be able to point you in the right direction. You just need to ask for cleansing services, and you will be transferred to the right department. Most local authorities do scan collected animals for microchips, although some don't so it is important for you to know which procedure is followed in your area. If your Local Authority doesn't scan then it will still record the details of the pet so you may need to call regularly whilst your pet is missing.
If you live near a railway line you can contact Network Rail in case they have had any reports of a pet on the tracks.
If you have lost a dog, you should contact your local dog warden as soon as possible. You can also contact other dog wardens in areas that surround the missing location. It is a legal requirement for a member of the public to report a loose dog to the dog warden, so they are a great source of information.  

When your pet goes missing you do not have to search alone. Using your community to help is important as the more eyes on the ground the better. You can reach out to your local community groups, churches, schools, and businesses letting them that your pet is missing.  They can help by distributing and displaying your pet’s missing poster, perhaps putting it on their social media accounts, and schools can also include your pet’s poster in their weekly newsletter or in their weekly assembly, all of which instantly increase awareness. Local scout and guides groups can also help distribute leaflets and posters to neighbours.
Knocking on neighbours’ doors is a way to let them know about your missing pet and to ask them to keep an eye out. From experience with our PetWatch community, neighbours often know when new pets enter their gardens compared to the ones that visit regularly and are the perfect people to report sightings and feedback anything they may have noticed since your pet went missing.
A community often comes together when a pet is missing. You can organise a search party, with pairs or small groups taking different routes to cover as much ground as possible.  

Many owners are not aware that their pet insurance can be used to help bring their pet home. It is important to let your insurance company know that your pet is missing as soon as possible and add this information to your policy. This way, if your pet comes home and needs medical treatment, you will still be covered under your policy. They will let you know what you need to do to ensure that your policy remains valid. You just need to give them a call, ideally within the first few days of your pet going missing and follow their conditions.
Your insurance company can offer financial assistance too. With the majority of insurance policies your pet will be covered under the Advertising and Reward section of the policy. This covers costs incurred, up to a certain amount, in trying to get your pet home by paying for third party assistance, like our publicity campaigns, and also allowing you to offer a reward to encourage people to come forward with information.
All pet insurance policies and limitations, exclusions and conditions, so take the time to the relevant sections of your policy carefully.  If you are in any doubt at all, ideally contact your insurer using their Webchat facility as this will often give you a written record of their advice.  We have also found it common that Pet Insurance Advisers do not understand their own policy:  in particular, some advisers will confuse ‘Missing Pet Advertising & Reward’ cover with ‘Missing Pet Compensation’.  A key indicator of this confusion is if they advise you that you must wait a certain period of time before you can claim – if they say that to you, they are likely looking at the wrong section of the policy.