Free tool

Make a lost pet poster that works

Six details, laid out the way that actually gets a pet seen. Print it, or save a PDF to take to a print shop. Your photo never leaves your device — nothing here is uploaded.

1 · The basics

Is this pet lost, or did you find one?

Lost Found

What kind of animal? Goes on the poster almost as large as the word LOST. People filter by species before they read anything else.

Dog Cat Other

2 · The photo

One clear daylight photo showing the whole animal against a contrasting background. Not four small ones. It stays on your device — nothing is uploaded.

Choose a photo or drag one here

Zoom

Drag the photo on the poster to reposition it.

3 · The words

One distinguishing feature 0/42

A short phrase — “white left paw”, “notched right ear”. Pick one you are happy to make public, and keep a different one back so you can test callers.

Neighbourhood 0/38

The area, not your street address. Enough for someone to know where to look.

That looks like a street address. The neighbourhood on its own is safer, and it is enough.

Phone number Printed in the largest digits that fit. A number you will actually answer.

Pet’s name — optional Printed small on purpose. Calling a frightened animal’s name usually backfires, and for a cat it almost always does.

4 · The sheet Print the word REWARD Never print an amount. A figure attracts people who want the money more than they want to help, and it gives a scammer something to negotiate against.

Letter portrait, 8.5 × 11in. Designed to be readable from across a road.

The PDF is the reliable one — it carries the paper size inside the file, so there is no print dialog to get right, and a print shop can run copies straight from it. If you print from here instead, turn off “Headers and footers”.
Image for Facebook gives you a 4:5 version sized for a feed post — most Canadian recoveries start with a neighbour who saw the post.

Press and hold the poster above, then choose Save Image. This works in every browser.

Before you post it

Hold one detail back.

Name something you are deliberately not putting on the poster — a scar, a marking, the wording on a tag. Then ask every caller to describe it. This never appears on the poster and is only stored on this device.

A detail you are keeping off the poster

Printed it? These four things decide whether it works.

Weatherproof every single one. A clear plastic sleeve, or cover it front and back with wide packing tape. An unprotected poster is unreadable after one wet day, which is most of the Canadian year.
Put them where people are already stopping. Major intersections at driver eye height, stop signs and crosswalks, trailheads and off-leash areas, vet clinics, pet stores and community boards — and the centre of your sighting cluster once one appears.
Check your municipal sign bylaw first. Many Canadian cities restrict what can go on utility poles and remove posters on sight. Zip ties on approved boards do less damage than staples. Find your local animal services.
Take every one down when your pet is home. And if someone calls asking for money before you have seen your pet, read this first.

This tool needs JavaScript

Your browser has JavaScript switched off, so the poster cannot be drawn here. You can still make a good poster by hand — the guide sets out exactly what goes on the sheet and in what order: the word LOST filling the top third, the species almost as large, one clear photo, one distinguishing feature, the neighbourhood, and your phone number in the largest digits that fit.

Read the poster guide