In Maricopa County's own words, animals brought in without identification are held for 72 hours as a stray hold. After that, the animal may become available to the public for adoption. Start searching today, not this weekend.
Call MCACC: 602-506-7387It is free, it is national, and it uses facial recognition to match your photo against found pets. Every stray dog Maricopa County takes in is posted there automatically, so this is the one place that searches the county intake for you around the clock. Upload the clearest photo of your pet's face that you have.
Report on Petco Love Lost →Do not rely on a phone call alone. Staff cannot always match a description to an animal in a kennel, and you know your pet on sight. Lost and found services run from 12pm to 6pm daily at both locations. Bring a photo and anything that proves the pet is yours.
Pawboost sends alerts by email, Facebook and Nextdoor to people near you. Any stray dog brought into the county shelter also appears in its lost and found database, so it is a second automatic net under the first one.
Post on Pawboost →A microchip only works if the contact details attached to it are yours and current. If you moved, changed numbers, or adopted the pet from someone else, the chip may still be pointing at the wrong person. Call the chip registry and confirm. Both county shelters scan found pets for free.
Maricopa County publishes a map of recently found pets and other lost and found resources. Check it alongside the searches above, not instead of them.
Maricopa County lost and found pets →Maricopa County Animal Care and Control does not impound lost or stray cats. Under Arizona law, free roaming cats are generally not treated as strays. That means driving to the shelter to look for your cat is usually not where your cat will be. Report the cat on Petco Love Lost and Pawboost, search your own neighborhood carefully, and contact private rescues in your area instead. Most cat owners do not know this and lose days to it.
The single thing that makes a lost pet easier to find is a current, clear photo of their face, because that is what the matching tools compare against. A blurry photo from two years ago is worth very little at the moment you need it. Keep a recent one, keep the microchip registration current, and keep the vet records somewhere you can reach from your phone.
That is what we build. Personal Pet Network keeps your pet's photos, records and vet history in one place you actually control.
Start freePlease read. We are not affiliated with Maricopa County Animal Care and Control, Petco Love Lost, Pawboost or any shelter or rescue. We do not receive, hold or search shelter intake records, and we cannot tell you whether your pet has been picked up. This page points you at the organizations that can.
Hold periods, hours, addresses and policies are set by the county and can change. Everything above was taken from Maricopa County's own lost and found pet page and confirmed on September 23, 2026. Call 602-506-7387 to confirm before you rely on any detail here. This page covers Maricopa County, Arizona only. If you are outside Maricopa County, Petco Love Lost still works nationally and is the right place to start.