Help and safety

1. If your animal is missing

• Search your home and garden first: sheds, garages, under decks and inside cars. Frightened animals often hide close by.
• Publish a missing report as soon as you can, with clear photos and the place and time you last saw your animal.
• Say how people should approach your animal. Many lost animals run if chased, even from people they know.
• Contact local vets, the SPCA and shelters, and ask them to scan any animal brought in for a microchip.
• Keep your report up to date. A new confirmed area helps people look in the right place.
• Never post your microchip number publicly. Keep it in your private animal profile to prove ownership.

2. If you have found an animal

• Only secure an animal if it is safe for you. If it is aggressive, injured or in traffic, call a vet, the SPCA or animal control.
• Ask a vet, shelter or SPCA to scan it for a microchip. Most do this free of charge.
• Publish a found report. Your exact address stays private and the public sees only a general area.
• Check possible matches with missing reports nearby.
• Before handing an animal over, ask for proof such as matching photos, vet records or a microchip scan.
• If the animal is still roaming and you could not secure it, report a sighting instead.

3. If you see an animal loose

• Note where and when you saw it and which way it went. That is the most useful information.
• Take a photo only if it is safe. Never photograph while driving, and never chase an animal or follow it onto private property.
• Log a sighting in the app. It takes about a minute and the owner is told straight away if it is linked to their report.

4. Avoiding scams

• asks for a reward, deposit, "transport fee" or airtime before they will return an animal;
• claims to have your animal but will not send a recent photo or meet at a vet or shelter;
• asks for your microchip number, ID number or banking details;
• pressures you to act immediately or to come alone.

Use Report in the app on any suspicious report or profile, and report extortion to SAPS.

5. Meeting safely

• Meet at a vet, shelter, SPCA or police station, or in a busy public place during the day.
• Take someone with you and tell another person where you are going.
• Do not invite strangers to your home or go to theirs.
• Do not send children to collect or hand over an animal.
• Once the animal is safely home, mark the case as reunited so alerts stop.

6. Emergencies

Homeward Paws is not an emergency service.

• Injured or sick animal: your nearest vet or the local SPCA.
• Suspected theft or a crime: SAPS on 10111.
• A child in danger: SAPS on 10111, or Childline on 116.

7. Contact support