Should I put my phone number on a lost pet flyer?

It is your choice, and there is a trade-off. A number makes it easy for an honest finder to call, but scammers also collect numbers from lost pet posts. A link or QR code to a page where people can message you keeps your number private.

Should I offer a reward on the flyer?

Leave the word and the amount off. The Missing Animal Response Network no longer recommends putting REWARD on posters because it can lead people to chase a frightened pet and it attracts scam calls. A plain request such as PLEASE HELP works well, and you can still thank a finder privately.

How big should a lost pet poster be?

For drivers, as big and bright as you can manage. Recovery specialists suggest poster board with about five words that can be read in five seconds from a passing car. Letter-size flyers are for handing to people and for notice boards.

Where am I allowed to put up flyers?

Rules vary by city and by property owner. Ask before posting in a business, check your city's rules on utility poles and street signs, and do not put flyers inside mailboxes, which in the United States are reserved for mail with postage.

Do flyers still matter when I have posted online?

Yes. The people most likely to see your pet are those who live, walk and drive within a few blocks, and many of them will never see your post. The flyer and the online page work best together, with the flyer pointing to the page.

How to make a lost pet flyer that works

A lost pet flyer works when a stranger can take it in within a few seconds: one clear photo, a large headline such as LOST CAT or LOST DOG, a few words of description, the general area and date, and one way to reach you. Leave off your home address and any reward amount. Use large, bright posters at intersections for drivers and smaller flyers to hand to neighbors.

A flyer has a few seconds to work

Most people who pass your flyer are walking a dog, carrying groceries or driving. They will give it a glance. A flyer that works is one a stranger can understand in that glance and remember later, when a cat crosses their yard or a dog trots past.

That means less text, a bigger photo, and one obvious thing to do.

Two jobs, two formats

Posters for people driving. The Missing Animal Response Network teaches a simple rule for intersection posters: five words, readable in five seconds, by someone passing in a car. Its advice is to make them giant, make them fluorescent, keep them brief, and put them at major intersections near where your pet went missing and near any sightings. A sheet of white letter paper on a pole is easy to miss from a car.

A poster for drivers might say only:

PLEASE HELP. LOST DOG. TAN TERRIER, RED COLLAR.

with a photo and a short link or QR code underneath.

Flyers for people on foot. Letter-size flyers are for handing to neighbors, pinning on notice boards and leaving at counters. They can carry a little more detail because the reader is standing still.

The ASPCA recommends keeping to one design. Seeing the same image and message repeatedly helps it stick, so use the same photo and headline on the poster, the flyer and your online posts.

What to include and what to leave off

Put on the flyer	Leave off the flyer
Large headline: LOST CAT, LOST DOG, MISSING PARROT	Your home address
One clear, recent photo of the whole animal	The reward amount, and the word REWARD
Species, color, size, coat, collar	One identifying detail that only you know
General area and date last seen	Long paragraphs and your pet’s life story
One way to reach you: QR code and short link	Photos that show children or other people
A request: “Do not chase. Please report sightings.”	Your full name

Why leave off your address

Readers only need the general area to know whether they are close enough to help. A neighborhood name or the nearest cross streets is enough. An exact address tells every passer-by where you live, and where a pet of a particular breed lives.

Why leave off the reward

A published reward gives scammers a script. They call claiming to have your pet and ask for the money, or part of it, in advance. A reward can also encourage well-meaning people to chase a frightened animal, which recovery specialists report has driven dogs into traffic. If you want to thank a finder, you can decide that privately once your pet is safely back.

Why hold back one detail

Keep one feature to yourself: a spot inside the ear, a kink in the tail, the color of the collar’s tag. When someone says they have your pet, ask them to describe it. A real finder can. This is standard advice from the Better Business Bureau and animal welfare groups. More on this in how to spot lost pet scams.

About your phone number

Traditional advice is to print your phone number, and it does make it easy for someone to call from the sidewalk. The cost is that your number is now on every pole and in every repost, where scammers also find it.

A QR code and short link to a single page for your pet avoids this. Anyone with a phone can open it, see more photos, and send you a sighting without your number or email being shown. If you start a page for a missing pet, a printable flyer that points to it is made for you.

If you prefer to print a number, treat every unexpected text with care, and never share a verification code that arrives by text.

Where to post

Start where your pet went missing and work outward. For a cat, concentrate on the nearest few blocks. For a dog, cover a wider area and follow sightings.

Major intersections near the last-seen point, facing stopped traffic
Entrances to parks, trails and dog parks
Vet clinics, pet supply stores and groomers
Grocery stores, laundromats, cafes, gas stations and community centers
Near schools, at a height children can read. Children notice animals.

Then put flyers into hands. Mail carriers, delivery drivers, dog walkers, joggers and landscapers cover the same streets every day. Knock on doors on your own block. In the largest study of missing cats, owners who found their cat often named handing out flyers and asking neighbors to help among the things that helped most.

A few practical points:

Ask permission before posting inside a business.
Rules for utility poles and street signs vary by city.
Do not put flyers in mailboxes. Tape them to doors or hand them over.
Use clear tape or a plastic sleeve so rain does not ruin the print.

Keep it current

A flyer that stays up for months leaves neighbors wondering whether the pet ever came home.

Write the date your pet went missing on the flyer.
Move posters toward new sightings.
When your pet is home, take every flyer down and mark the page as found, so the people who were looking know how it ended.

For what to do alongside the flyer, see the guides for a missing cat or a missing dog.