Should I offer a reward?
I get asked this a lot and although there is no right or wrong answer, most lost pet experts worldwide generally say no. But at the end of the day it’s definitely your own personal choice.
In New Zealand, I firmly believe 99.9 percent of people genuinely WANT to help you find your pet. So, a reward is generally not necessary. I have seen thousands of pets reunited purely through the goodness of people, with no reward.
There is a school of thought that a reward can even be counterproductive. Some think appealing to someone’s altruism to help find a lost pet, is far more effective than a financial reward. A very good article that discusses the neuro science on this more deeply can be found on the Missing Animal Response Network website, click here to view the article.
For me, the exception is when a pet was known to be stolen. The type of person who deliberately steals a dog is motivated to claim a reward. Cats are rarely stolen in NZ, so rewards are almost irrelevant with cats. In my 15 years’ experience with lost pets, rewards have largely only worked in cases where dogs were stolen. Dog owners would tell me later how they got their dog back with dodgy stories from reward claimants how “their friend” “found” the dog, followed by the demand to meet in some strange place with cash in exchange for the dog…. From this behaviour, my strong suspicion is very few of those reward claimants genuinely found the dog, they were probably stolen.
Pros of rewards
- If known to be stolen, a reward can be the only motivator that brings the pet back
- It may get more attention
Cons of rewards
- Can encourage crank calls
- Can encourage scammers, like a lost pet shipping scam. In this scam, the scammer says they have found your pet but now they want money to ship it back to you from the opposite end of the country… These cruel scammers are often overseas and of course they do not have your pet at all
- In the case of a timid dog, people chasing rewards can chase the dog, making it even harder to find and catch the dog
- Encourages more people to offer rewards, eventually making rewards the expected norm
- Encourages thieves to steal for reward
- High cost may cause family financial hardship
Kid friendly rewards
Put a flier into your local school/s and an ad into their weekly school newsletter offering a reward which will appeal to kids, like tickets to Rainbows End. This means thousands of kid-sized pet detectives, will have their eyes peeled for your pet.
Saying thank you
Whilst many Kiwis will turn down a financial reward if they find your pet, most will happily accept your heartfelt thanks. However, chocolates or a bunch of flowers is a welcome nice touch ????.
Final tip; Mention your pet is desexed and microchipped in your advertising
If your pet is desexed and/or microchipped, make that a part of your advertising. A pet that has been stolen or is being kept (“finders/keepers”) will be far less attractive if it is unable to breed due to being desexed. Likewise, a microchip means a pet is easily identifiable for the rest of its life, making it very off-putting to keep. If your pet has a costly health condition, mention it too.
Use all the tools in your arsenal! Whether you use the reward tool or not is totally your own choice.
The Missing Animal Response Network is a worldwide network of Missing Animal Response Specialists. Founded in 2005 by Kat Albrecht, the MARN training breaks down the process of a pet being lost, then shows us how to understand lost pet behavior along with time tested techniques in recovering those lost pets. Animal Register Limited has three MARN certified Pet Detectives on staff to assist pet owners when their pet is missing.