Report a lost or stolen dog, cat, rabbit or other animal in the Shipton-Under-Wychwood area

Required information

You can use Animal Finders to report your animal as lost or stolen. Please have the following information to hand:

• All the details of your animal
• A recent photograph of your animal - this is really important
• Details of your animal's last known location

Stolen animal? Stop and think - has it really been stolen?

If your animal has been stolen you need to contact the police, but before you do ask yourself this:

• Could your animal have escaped and wandered off? Even if they may never done it before - it does happen.
• Could your animal have been taken by a partner you are having a domestic dispute with?
• Is there actually evidence of a crime? For example:
  • your car or van window is smashed and the dog is gone
  • your house has been broken into and the dog is gone
  • you've seen someone take your dog

The police will only get involved if there is evidence that a crime has been committed. They can't get involved with lost animals who've simply strayed or with custody disputes over pets.

Likewise, we only want you to report your animal as stolen if there is evidence of a crime. If not, please report it as lost. This enables us to provide more accurate statistics for animal related thefts in the Shipton-Under-Wychwood area.

A word on pet knapping:

Sadly, pet theft is a growing crime in the UK. Dogs are especially prone to theft and can be held for ransom, sold on for cash or used in dog fighting rings.

We do not display your contact information on our website, or on our posters. We encourage all contact to come through us so we can monitor for signs of foul-play and extortion.

If you are contacted about your lost animal and are asked for money for it's safe return you must inform the police first, then us.

Learn more about dog theft (including tips on how to protect your dog) on the Dog Theft Action website www.dogtheftaction.com.