Pet & animal services

Find your missing pet

Project Status: When you need to do this

Contact us as soon as your pet is missing.

We’ll make every effort to bring them home if they’re picked up by one of our rangers.

What you need to do 

If your microchipped dog or cat is missing, report it to us or on the NSW Pet Registry within 72 hours.

Call us on 02 9265 9333 or [email protected].

You should also contact local shelters and vets to see if anyone has handed in your pet. We only collect roaming dogs and cats in our local area. As cats are legally allowed to roam, we don’t encourage picking them up as they could be owned. If you’re missing a different type of pet, contact local vets to see if it’s been found.

If we can’t identify the animal

If we can’t identify your dog or cat, or we can’t contact you, we’ll take it to the Sutherland Shire Council Animal Shelter  

If your pet is microchipped and registered, the shelter will continue trying to contact you – firstly by phone and then by mail. If you don’t respond or can’t be contacted, your pet will be made available for adoption after 14 days. 

If your pet is not microchipped or registered, it will be put up for adoption after 7 days at the Sutherland Shire Council Animal Shelter.

A grey and white cat with yellow eyes is crouched on a concrete kerb next to a green rubbish bin. The cat appears alert and is looking directly at the camera. Behind the cat, there are more bins in soft focus.
Photo: City of Sydney/ Katherine Griffiths

If you find a lost dog

Try to contact the owner if the dog is wearing a collar and identification tag. If you can’t contact the owner, take the dog to a vet so its microchip can be scanned. The information on the microchip will enable the owner to be contacted and the dog to return home.

If the dog doesn’t have a microchip or if the owner can't be contacted, contact us on 02 9265 9333 and one of our rangers will take the dog to the Sutherland Shire Animal Shelter.

If you find a lost cat

Cats are allowed to roam free, so it can be hard to know if they’re lost or a stray. If a stray cat has been around your place for a while and you’re concerned about it, contact us on 02 9265 9333.

A ranger can scan the cat for a microchip, and the same process (outlined above for dogs) will apply. If relevant, you can discuss adopting the cat with the ranger or animal shelter.

Stray animals

Vets may accept stray animals and later contact us to impound the pet. Vets are not obliged to accept an animal unless it is injured.

Man walking dog on a street and tall building behind him.Pet & animal services
A puppy and a kitten sitting side-by-side.Pet & animal servicesMicrochip your pet
Humans tending to a dogPet & animal servicesDesex your pet
Two people and two catsPet & animal servicesAdopt a pet