Lost & Found Animals

All Jefferson County impounds are taken to the Foothills Animal Shelter, unless sick or injured. Please call Animal Control if your pet is missing from unincorporated Jefferson County and you have been unable to locate your pet at the shelter. We recommend getting signs posted in the area where the animal was lost and checking with local vets.

If Your Pet Is Lost

• Call your local animal control agency
• Immediately post signs in the area where the pet was lost
• Talk to as many people in the area as possible
• Ask children in the area. Be aware that children usually try to help, but they are not always clear about what they have or have not seen.
• Call all the shelters, even counties surrounding the area where the pet was lost
• Physically go to all the shelters as often as possible and look at the impounded animals. Shelter employees may not describe your pet the same way you would.
• Check with local veterinarians
• Post signs at pet supply stores, grocery stores, schools, etc.

If You Find a Lost Pet

• Call your local animal control agency
• Take the animal to Foothills Animal Shelter or another local shelter. People that find pets may not turn them in to a shelter, erroneously thinking the animal will be euthanized; however, euthanasia is not the goal of shelters; reuniting pets with pet owners is the goal.
• If you find an animal and are interested in keeping the pet, please take it to the shelter for the holding period and fill out an application for the animal.
• At the very least, advise the shelter that you found the dog and post signs in the neighborhood where the animal was found. You may also place a "found" ad in the newspaper(s). Found ads are usually run at no cost.
• If the animal is not taken to a shelter, the pet owner may have given up hope, and the "good deed" may have done more harm than good. The pet may or may not get adopted; although it probably had an owner that would be devastated to learn where the pet ended up going. For more information, visit the Foothills Animal Shelter website.

Stray, Abandoned or Unwanted Pets

Each year, more than 40,000 stray, abandoned and unwanted dogs and cats are euthanized in Colorado. You can help prevent this tragedy by donating to the Pet Overpopulation Fund. Simply check the box on your state tax form. Your donation will fund spay and neuter surgeries and education programs in underserved areas of Colorado to prevent litters of unwanted puppies and kittens. Every donation, no matter how small, will help Colorado's pets!

Visit the Colorado Pet Overpopulation Fund website for more information.

Foothills Animal Shelter

The Foothills Animal Shelter serves the Jefferson County community, including the cities of Wheat Ridge, Arvada, Golden, Lakewood, Westminster, Morrison, Mountain View, Edgewater and unincorporated areas. The staff works to reunite lost pets with their owners and to adopt stray animals into new, loving, permanent homes.