Found a cat or dog?
Post their listing where their family is looking.
A found animal is an animal somebody is looking for. Report them on Animalert, at the exact spot you found them: the neighbourhood is notified, and their family sees the report if they are searching. Here is what comes next, in order.
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Who should you call when you find an animal?
In this order. Every one of these steps is free.
Report the found animal on Animalert
Animalert is the reporting network for lost and found pets. A found-pet report is pinned to the exact spot you found them: it notifies the neighbourhood, stays visible on the map to the family who is searching, and generates the poster to put up around the spot. In partner communes, the town hall's services see the report too.
Have the microchip or the tattoo read
A tattoo sits inside the ear or on the inner thigh, and a little alcohol brings it back if it has faded. For a microchip, a vet, a shelter, the town hall or the pound can do the reading. It is the most useful thing you can do in the first hours, and it often settles the whole situation. One thing worth knowing: a vet is not supposed to pass the family's contact details to you, it is for them or for I-CAD to make the call.
Declare the found animal to I-CAD
As soon as an identification number has been read, the declaration happens on i-cad.fr and I-CAD contacts the registered family. One point few pages spell out: the French national identification file is confidential, so you will not receive their contact details. Yours are passed on to them instead.
Tell the town hall in other communes
In a commune that is not an Animalert partner, tell the town hall of the commune where you found them. Stray animals are the responsibility of the mayor of the commune where they roam (articles R211-11 and R211-12 of the code rural), and the town hall is who gives you the details of the competent pound. It is in fact required to display those details permanently, including outside public opening hours, and at night or on public holidays an emergency number must direct the public. Keeping a stray animal at home is not what the law provides for (articles L211-24 to L211-26 of the code rural): the animal must be handed to a pound.
No collar, no microchip: what is still possible
This is the most common situation, and the worst served.
Every official declaration service asks for an identification number as its first input. With no readable chip or tattoo, the national declaration has nothing to record and I-CAD has nobody to notify. The same is true in the hours before the chip is read, while nobody has scanned the animal yet.
A report on Animalert needs no number: pinned to the exact spot where the animal was seen, it is visible to the people next door and to the family searching the same few streets.
As soon as a chip is read, the I-CAD declaration picks up again. In a commune that is not an Animalert partner, the town hall still needs telling.
A found dog and a found cat are two different situations
The report is the same; the animal's behaviour is not. What you describe, and how wide you spread the report, change with the species.
I found a dog
A found dog often comes from far away: it can cover several kilometres in a night, follow a road, cross into the next town. It frequently wears a collar or a tag, and its family stands a good chance of having already reported it missing, to I-CAD or on Animalert. Check the collar, have the chip read, and spread the report wide rather than only down your own street.
I found a cat
A found cat usually lives very close by: frightened, it tends to hide within a few hundred metres of home. Many wear no collar, and some are the neighbourhood's free-roaming cats rather than lost ones. Ask the neighbours first and check the lost pets reported on Animalert in the neighbourhood, then spread the report over a tight radius.
A mobile app or a found-pet website: Animalert brings both together. You report from the app, and every listing stays viewable by anyone, with no account and no fee.
How do you notify the neighbourhood?
Pin the exact spot you found them (2 min)
Enter the species, a description and a few photos, then drop a GPS marker where you saw the animal. That point is what decides who gets notified.
The neighbourhood gets notified
People around the spot receive a notification, and the listing appears on the public map where the family searching for their animal will find it. That is also the moment to put up the poster the app generates.
The family reaches you the way you chose
You decide the contact channel and you can hide your phone number. You can also see who has viewed your information.
Where can you report a found pet for free?
Animalert lets you report a found pet for free, with no account needed to browse the listings. A found-pet report spreads a geolocated alert around the spot where you found the animal, notifies the neighbourhood, and stays visible to the family searching for them. It works even when the animal has no collar and no readable microchip, where a national declaration needs an identification number. In partner communes, the town hall's services see the report.
How long does the family have to come and collect them?
Two rules worth knowing, because they set how long their family has to find them.
A dog or a cat found straying and placed in a pound is kept there for a clear period of eight working days (service-public.fr). Once that period passes with nobody coming forward, the animal becomes the property of the pound's manager, who may pass them to a shelter or offer them for adoption.
An unidentified animal, with no chip and no tattoo, legally belongs to nobody. That does not mean you may keep them: declaring remains the first step, and it is what gives their family a chance of finding them.
A non-profit, not a company
Animalert is run by a non-profit association (French loi 1901). No paid options, no ads: reporting a found animal should never cost anybody anything.
Non-profit association
Animalert is registered as French non-profit association no. W 751 273 035. A transparent public-interest project with no profit motive: the app stays free for everyone, today and tomorrow.
Alongside town halls
In partner communes, the town hall's services see every report made on their territory. Animalert is built to support communes and relay reports to their residents.
Looking for your own pet, who has not come home? Report a lost pet
FAQ - Frequently asked questions
I found a cat with no collar, what should I do?
Start by asking the neighbours and checking the lost pets reported on Animalert in the neighbourhood: plenty of collarless cats live a few doors down, and their family may already have reported them missing. Then report the cat on Animalert at the spot you found them, and have the microchip read at a vet, a shelter or the town hall. In a commune that is not an Animalert partner, tell the town hall as well.
Who should you call when you find a stray animal?
Report them on Animalert first, at the spot you found them: in partner communes, the town hall's services see the report. Elsewhere, call the town hall of the commune, which will give you the details of the competent pound. It has to display those details permanently, including outside its opening hours, and at night or on public holidays an emergency number must direct the public. If the animal is injured, call the fire brigade or a vet first.
Do you have to declare a found animal to I-CAD?
Yes, as soon as a microchip or tattoo number has been read. The declaration happens on i-cad.fr and I-CAD contacts the registered family itself. Because the file is confidential, it will not pass you their contact details: yours are passed to them instead. With no readable number there is nothing to declare on that side.
How long does the family have to come and collect them?
A dog or a cat placed in a pound is kept there for a clear period of eight working days. Once that period passes with no word, the animal becomes the property of the pound's manager and may be passed to a shelter or offered for adoption.
Where can I see lost pet listings near where I found them?
On the Animalert app's map, which shows lost and found pet listings around you. Check it before you post your own: their family may already have reported them missing, and then you can reach them directly. Keep an eye out too for posters on the streets around where you found them.
Is reporting a found pet really free?
Yes, entirely. There is no paid visibility option on Animalert: every report gets the same reach to the local community. And browsing the listings does not even need an account.
Can I keep the animal I found?
Not directly. Keeping a stray animal at home is not what the law provides for: they must be reported and handed to a pound, which gives their family time to come forward. Adoption only becomes possible after that, and through the pound or the shelter. You can of course look after them while the steps are under way, as long as you have reported them.