Lost & found pet recovery rate is unchanged in 20 years

NEW YORK CITY–Americans are keeping 60% more cats and dogs than 20 years ago, but those cats and dogs are still lost and found at about the same rate–a finding which suggests that the advent of microchip identification has not appreciably increased the rate of recovery of lost pets. Rather, micro-chip identification might merely have augmented or supplanted the use of more traditional identification methods such as collars, dogtags, and tattoos among the pets of people who have always tried to identify their pets.

The comparative data on pet loss and recovery comes from an American SPCA random digit dial survey of more than 1,000 pet keepers, completed in early 2012 under supervision of ASPCA vice president of shelter research and development Emily Weiss, and a direct mail survey of 1,200 pet keepers conducted in 1991-1992 by ANIMAL PEOPLE editor Merritt Clifton, who was then news editor of the defunct Animals’ Agenda magazine.

The Weiss survey found that 15% of pet keepers had lost a dog or a cat in the past five years, but that 85% of the lost dogs and cats were recovered. The data projects than 3.6% of lost pets were never accounted for, alive or dead. The Clifton survey found that 3.9% of lost pets were never accounted for, alive or dead. Both surveys found that cats were slightly more likely to disappear.

The Weiss survey found that 49% of dog keepers found their dog by searching the neighborhood, while 15% of the dogs were recovered because they had either an identification tag or a micro-chip. Lost cats returned home on their own 59% of the time.

Thirty percent of lost cats were found by searching the neighborhood.

Just 6% of lost dogs and 2% of lost cats were recovered from animal shelters. The Clifton survey did not ask about lost pet recovery methods.