FAQ

Home > My Lost Pet FAQ Knowledge Base by: Sara Lee Rainey > FAQ

How do people contact me about my pet? Do you give out my phone number?

Yes, we default we give out your phone number as this is the fastest way someone can get a hold of you. On our website it is fully protected from indexing/scraping, but this still allows anyone to contact you. It is very important that people can contact you via phone if they have information about your pet. We also provide a way for people to reach you via email using a contact form (your private email is not revealed to the public unless you respond directly).

Can I do an alert about a pet I have found?

Unfortunately, no – we are not a directory for found pets nor do we provide services or marketing to help find the owner. We encourage anyone who has found a pet to browse our site for a match. If you need further advice on what to do when you believe you have found someone’s pet, please read our article “Found Dog or Cat? Try These Important Tips!” (https://mylostpetalert.com/recovery-tips/find-owner-found-dog-cat/)

What will my phone alert sound like?

Your pet alert recording is custom tailored around your pets information by our talented voice actors. Please visit our FAQ or How It Works page to listen to an example - it is very highly quality, and per your request can be customized. Example: Hello, this is a lost pet alert for a dog missing in your neighborhood. "Yoda" is an older female, mostly white mixed beagle. "Yoda is an older mixed beagle that is mostly white, with faded brown and black hair. She has a wart on her right paw, she may ...

My pet came within an hour, can I get a refund?

Due to the expedient nature of our alert service, as soon as you place an order we incur immediate costs that cannot be refunded. Please contact our support if you wish to discuss a payment issue. Note: We do not issue refunds!

How do you call people in my area? Where do the numbers come from?

We purchase a list of phone numbers located in a radius of the exact address your pet went missing by partnering with one of the nation’s largest business & consumer marketing list companies (the same one used by many political candidates). We of course cannot guarantee that every neighbor will be called, but we do our best!

How big of an area do you notify?

Typically within 0.6 miles, but it depends on the population density of the area where your pet was last seen. We start with an exact address and notify in a radius outward.

What if my neighbors don't answer their phones?

Not to worry – if the call is not answered, we leave a voicemail! We will retry busy numbers up to 5 times.

How long does it take for my phone alert to go out?

We know time is of the essence and work very fast! We typically can process phone alerts within 1 hour, but please allow up to 3 hours in instances of high demand. Our processing hours are 8am to 8pm PST, and depending on how late in the day you order the phone calls may not go out until the next morning (see calling hours below).

What hours do you call my neighbors?

Due to FTC regulations and common courtesy – pet alert phone calls are made between 10am and 8pm relative to the area’s time zone.

Do you provide a report of everyone called?

While other companies only provide a report when you ask for it, we provide a complete report of everyone called including their first name, address, and phone number. You can access it easily via your account dashboard (https://mylostpetalert.com/dashboard/).

I am on a Do Not Call Registry. Why did I receive a call from your company?

Apologies for any inconvenience! Because our calls are purely informational we classify as an Exempt Organization according to FTC rules. If you wish to no longer receive calls like this from us in the future, you can submit your phone number via this opt-out form.

How do you use Facebook to alert people about my lost pet?

As you may or may not know, every Facebook user has a personal news feed that is displayed when they first log in – it’s a collection of posts (images/text) your friends have made or shared recently and is basically what everyone browses through daily for 30+ minutes. In the news feed, Facebook occasionally places a “Sponsored Post” (an advertisement) that a business has paid to show to you based on your interests, gender, age, or geo-location – it looks and functions just like any other post (c...

How precise are Facebook Ads?

A post about your lost pet is shown to people located in as little as 1 mile (radius) of the exact address your pet went missing – depending on the population density and package you choose of course.Facebook also allows us to target people based on whether they live in the area or are just traveling – we almost always target people “living in the area”. To learn more about how Facebook knows where a person is located, hear it straight from the horses mouth. (https://www.facebook.com/business/h...

How is it different than posting on Facebook for free?

Without Facebook Advertising, a post made about your lost pet is only going to be seen by your friends and maybe their friends – even businesses that offer to post on their page for free will do little good (unless someone just happens to come across the post). With Facebook Advertising, we create a post on our page and then pay Facebook to have it displayed to people that live around where your pet went missing – it will especially reach people that may have seen your pet, but are not actively ...

If someone sees the sponsored post of Facebook, how will they get a hold of me?

While it’s easy to click your pet’s photo and contact you via our website, not everyone does that – someone may choose to leave a basic comment like “I saw this cat last night in my yard”. To ensure that you receive these kind of comments simply comment on the post yourself – this will turn on Facebook notifications for that post. If you do not have a Facebook account you should check the post daily, as we do not actively monitor comments made on our posts!

Why don't I see the Facebook post in my own news feed?

If you do live in the same area and you have not seen the sponsored post about your lost pet, Facebook has likely decided that another business’s ad is more relevant to display to you at that time (how ads work) (https://www.facebook.com/about/ads). Each individual sees different ads based on their interests, but with people checking their Facebook page an average of 14 times per day (https://www.statista.com/statistics/247614/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/) it’s not somethin...

How do I see how many people have seen my ad?

While it’s not yet possible for us to display this information to you on our website, you can contact us at support@mylostpetalert.com and we can provide a screenshot of the advertising results from Facebook Ad Manager.Keep in mind that the Facebook Alert amount in your package is an average number of people reached, and engagement performance (shares/likes/comments) can vary depending on your pet’s photo and the community viewing it.

How quickly do faxes go out?

If you order one of our premium lost pet alert packages, faxes are sent out within 5 minutes of your order. Free lost pet alerts require manual approval (to prevent abuse and offensive pictures) and can take up to 2 (business) hours to be sent out.

How do you know the fax numbers of vets and shelters in my area?

We use a combination of online information, websites like vets.com, and a proprietary database of over 30,000 pet related businesses with known fax numbers.

How big of an area do you cover?

We can fax flyers to pet related businesses within a 25 mile radius of your missing pet. Any vets and shelters further than this will not be reached by our automatic faxing system, but you can contact us for assistance in cases where your pet was lost in a remote area or along a highway – we’ll manually send faxes in towns they may have ended up in!

An animal hospital (or shelter) was not in the list of businesses faxed, Why?

It sure would be great if every shelter and vet could be reached by fax, but sadly that’s not always possible!There are so many shelters and vets in the United States, and unfortunately many of them (especially in rural areas) do not maintain up to date information online or an online presence. Some vets/shelters have also requested not to receive flyer alert faxes (due to paper costs or other reasons). Vets are in no way required or expected to check if they have seen your pet, and some shelter...

My package includes 35 faxes, Why did you only fax 7?

The simple answer is: we faxed as many as we could within 25 miles of the location. A common misunderstanding is that that amount is fixed and promised, which is not the case – 35 faxes, such as in the “Bark” package, are an “up to” amount and depending on the package you select, and the population of the area where the pet was lost, you may not reach the maximum number of faxes.

How do I update that my pet has been reunited with us?

Contact us through email or chat so we can go ahead and update this information for you.

What Social Media is used in this process?

Social Media We use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram to broadcast your lost pet to your local area.

How many people actually are alerted?

Reach More People Our alerts reach thousands of your neighbors and all local shelters, animal control, pet stores, and vets.

Why use social media?

Social media is extremely powerful, but a Facebook post about your lost pet shared mostly with friends or family just isn’t enough. Using Facebook’s Advertising platform, people living in the area your pet went missing will see a ‘Sponsored Post’ with your pet’s photo and information directly in their private news feed! 71% of people in the US have Facebook, and half check it every day. Geo-targeted to as little as 1 mile Reach thousands of neighbors quickly

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