Zoe’s Story
On March 17, 2025, my life turned into a nightmare with one text message.
“Call us.”
It was from the dog sitters. I called immediately, my heart pounding and received the worst news of my life: Zoe is missing.
I was in Maui, thousands of miles away, while my baby was out by herself, lost and scared and alone. I had never felt so helpless and panicked in my life.
Once I arrived after booking the first flight home, my life see-sawed between utter despair as I searched day and night, gratitude to those who offered to help post flyers, and flickers of hope when a sighting of Zoe was reported. I found out she was spotted on my street within 30 minutes of running from the sitter’s house but couldn’t be apprehended.
She ran home and I wasn’t there. I’ll never forgive myself.
Zoe’s last known sighting was March 21, 2025, running west across Prospect in Hermosa Beach between Aviation Blvd. and the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church. This was close to her last sighting on March 19 near the same church which was our usual walking route.
I concentrated the search around this area. I set up a food station with a field camera. I left her toys, Greenies (her favorite treat), my T-shirts, and her blanket strewn along Prospect, hoping to lead her back home to me.
But she had simply vanished.
There have been tips and possible sightings since then, but so far, none of them have turned out to be Zoe. I know she’s out there. I will never give up and I’m so appreciative of everyone who has continued to pray for Zoe and keep their eyes peeled.
How to Help
Neighbors and friends from all over have been so helpful in sharing Zoe’s story. If there is something not listed below that you think would help, please let me know!
FLYERS
You can either download and print the PDF or I’m happy to drop off color flyers to you!
POSTCARDS
Postcards are great to hand out at vet clinics, groomers, dog walkers, doggie daycares, and any pet events, like dog adoptions or rescue events. You can download here or I can drop them off to you!
YARD SIGNS
I will drop off a yard sign to place in front of your house, apartment building, or business!
SOCIAL MEDIA
Please feel free to share any of the flyer or postcard images for Instagram, TikTok, and FB stories, reels, and posts! Follow the Bring Zoe Home Facebook page!
When A Pet Goes Missing
These are all tips I gathered during my search for Zoe from animal shelters, missing pet resources like Pawboost, various pet trackers, Nextdoor posts, and Lost and Found Pets Facebook groups. Zoe is still missing so obviously following these steps is no guarantee your pet will be found, but based on all my research, these are the steps I believe will give you the best chances of finding your pet.
✅️ The first step is to comb the neighborhood immediately. If the missing pet is a cat, be sure to check all nooks and crannies in and around the home. Cats are more likely to hide near home base whereas dogs will run.
✅️ Post on all the social media sites, including Nextdoor, FB groups, Ring, and Craigslist. Include streets where the pet went missing and when.
✅️ Blanket your neighborhood with flyers using a one-mile radius at a minimum with information on your pet, such as breed, age, gender, approximate height/weight, whether spayed/neutered, and if there is a reward. Use a good close-up photo. There are differing opinions as to whether to offer a reward as it could attract the wrong people, but my thought was it wouldn’t hurt so I did. Pawboost will create flyers for you if you need. Flyers are very important because not everyone is online.
✅️ If there are no sightings in 2 weeks, broaden your radius to 2 miles and consider going bigger, i.e. banners, yard signs, and neon posterboard.
✅️ Drop off flyers at vet clinics, pet stores, and groomers. Hand out flyers to everyone you see, including dog walkers, UPS drivers, postal carriers, Amazon drivers, and construction workers.
✅️ Check homeless encampments. I also dropped flyers off at the local temporary housing tiny home villages.
✅️ Check the neighborhood or area of the last sighting day and night, especially late night hours when pets who tend to hide will most likely come out in search of food.
✅️ If your pet is microchipped, notify the microchip company your pet is lost and ensure your contact information is accurate.
✅️ Register your missing pet with Pawboost, 24PetConnect, lostmydoggie.com, Petco Love Lost, and Pet FBI. It’s free. Pawboost will ask if you want to boost your alert with paid FB and Instagram ads, and I did, but I honestly don’t think it was worth it. If you have the money to spare, then do it, otherwise, I don’t think it’s necessary.
✅️ Join Facebook residential groups for your city and surrounding areas plus the lost and found groups for those areas too. You also want to check the “found” animal posts as often as you can.
✅️ Search on 24PetConnect using a 100-mile+ search radius and sign up for the daily emails. This has been the most helpful for me because it will show me similar dogs to Zoe that are in shelters as well as reported found through rescues, Pawboost, or Nextdoor.
✅️ When searching animal shelters online, don’t filter by age, breed, or gender because this can be misclassified.
✅️Alert all the local shelters and animal controls. For the South Bay, I alerted Redondo Beach PD, Hermosa Beach PD, Manhattan Beach PD, El Segundo PD, Torrance PD, and Hawthorne PD. I also dropped off flyers at every police station and as many shelters as I could.
✅️ Physically go to all the shelters, and often, rather than call, if you can, and drop off flyers. I checked every few days at the Carson Animal Shelter, SPCALA in Hawthorne, SPCALA Long Beach, and the Harbor Shelter in San Pedro. Ask to check the pets in medical and those brought in deceased. I also notified the Lovejoy Foundation in Inglewood who is contracted with the cities of Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Hawthorne for found pets.
✅️ Email local rescues that you are searching for your missing pet and attach a flyer. I also emailed veterinarian clinics that didn’t already have a flyer.
🐶Leave your dirty clothes and your pet’s bedding outside your home to attract them back. If you can, leave your front and back doors open.
🏡 WHEN YOU ARE REUNITED – YAY! – BE SURE TO EDIT YOUR LOST/FOUND POST. Let your neighbors know when you’ve been reunited with your pet. Type #reunited on all your social media posts. Take down Missing Pet flyers. It’s helpful to keep a spreadsheet of where you posted flyers, banners, and yard signs.
‼️AVOID LOST & FOUND PET SCAMS https://www.pawboost.com/blog/how-to-recognize-and-avoid-the-lost-pet-scam/
📌 SPCA-LA Tips on Finding your Lost Pet
📌 Los Angeles City and County Animal Shelters
😸 HOW TO FIND A LOST CAT ~
You Found a Lost Pet, Now What?
🐶 TO HELP AN ANIMAL FIND ITS WAY HOME 😸
Please do the following:
1. Secure the pet and make sure it is safe. Lost pets are generally scared so don’t leave the animal in a yard unsupervised or let them out without being on a leash. If you cannot bring them in your home, then secure them in a garage. Provide water and appropriate food, if available.
2. If it’s a dog, walk the dog around the neighborhood to see if it knows its way home. Ask neighbors if anyone recognizes the pet.
3. Post on Nextdoor.com and check the Lost Pets section.
4. Post on the Neighbors Ring app and search for any lost pets. The app is free, even if you don’t subscribe to Ring.
5. Post on Pawboost.com, lostmydoggie.com, and 24PetConnect.com.
6. Look for flyers in the neighborhood and post some of your own (they’re really effective).
7. Take the pet to any vet, PetSmart, or Petco (call first to confirm they have a scanner available) to be scanned for a microchip. They scan for free. If a chip is found, notify the chip company and the chip company will contact the pet parent.
8. Notify the shelter that has jurisdiction where the pet was found. This is very important! Many pet parents will check for their missing pet at their local shelter. Tell the shelter you have the animal, but please don’t leave them at the shelter unless that is the absolute last resort. The shelter will allow you to foster the animal until the pet parents are found. All shelters are over capacity, so when a new pet comes in, another one must leave. Unfortunately most of the time that will be by euthanizing an animal. This link will register with the shelters 24petconnect.com/BreedRequest/found
9. Don’t just give away or keep the pet. That’s illegal. Owners should be given no less than 30 days to find their pet. Please make sure anyone claiming ownership can prove it, usually with photos or vet records.
Beware of pet claiming scams https://www.pawboost.com/blog/how-to-recognize-and-avoid-the-lost-pet-scam/
Will My Heart Ever Heal?
I thought I’d never be able to feel joy again and believe me, there is an emptiness in my heart that won’t ever mend until Zoe is back home safe with me. But one thing that has been helping me cope with her absence is rescuing and fostering dogs.
It’s impossible not to see so many abandoned and neglected pets at the shelters without wanting to save them all. At first, I didn’t want to take away focus from my search for Zoe, but then I realized Zoe has brought me here for a reason.
So I volunteered with several rescues, offering to foster and give freedom rides from the shelters. The senior pups tugged at my heartstrings the most as they are often the most difficult to adopt due to expensive medical issues, and thus, the first to be euthanized.
Rescuing and fostering dogs is not taking the place of my search for Zoe. I’ll never give up looking for her. But I know Zoe would approve of this new purpose in my life.
These are just a few of the Southern California senior dog rescues who are always looking for committed fosters (and of course, adopters!):
❤️ Frosted Faces Foundation is located in Ramona, CA in San Diego County and started by Kelly and Andy Smisek. I’ve fostered two pups from Frosted Faces and did a freedom ride. Kelly and Andy love senior pets so much they will pay for veterinarian care for life at their onsite vet clinic for every adopted Frosted Face. There is $0 adoption fee. They have weekly hikes, two-week frosted flings (a great way to see if a pup is right for you!), and playtime with the dogs. I can’t say enough good things about Frosted Faces. If I lived closer, I’d be volunteering here every day. They’d be sick of me!
❤️ The TM Crew is run by the very dedicated and hard-working, Lisa Papple. She started her rescue in 2019 in Orange County, focusing on neglected senior dogs. My latest #fosterfail, Murphy, is from The TM Crew.
❤️ H.E.L.P: A Home for Every Living Pet is a local South Bay rescue that focuses on sick, injured, and senior pets. I attended an adoption event and immediately knew they were a rescue I wanted to follow and/or volunteer with. They work closely with the Harbor Shelter in San Pedro.
❤️ Crusty Crew Rescue is another senior rescue that I believe focuses on shelters in the Inland Empire and Orange County. I love the name.
❤️ DaisyLu Ranch is a rescue and sanctuary for senior dogs located in Camarillo. If I lived closer, I’d be here all the time!
❤️ Muttville (in San Francisco but they sometimes rescue dogs from Southern California shelters) I’m dying to do a road trip and pay them a visit. You can hang out with their pups Tuesday through Sunday from 11am – 4pm.
Contact Me
(310) 291-0100
sarahmchb@gmail.com
If you have any information on Zoe’s whereabouts, please call immediately anytime. If you can, please take a picture and text it to me. I take every tip seriously.
If you have questions on looking for a lost pet or you found a pet, please reach out and I’ll do my best to help.
And if you are considering fostering or adopting a rescue pup but don’t know where to start, I can help with that too!
Thank you for your response. ✨
bringzoehome.com 