• Check the animal for a collar and identification tags. Many owners list their phone number on their pet’s tags in case they go missing. 
• Take the animal to an animal shelter or vet clinic to be scanned for a microchip. Microchips are becoming more and more common and are one of the best ways to reunite lost pets with their owners. Microchips cannot be found without a scanner. 
• Check the corresponding Missing Pet page of our website from the list below. The pages list animals that have been reported missing by their owner:
  • View Missing Dogs
  • View Missing Cats
  • View Missing Critters
• If you wish to keep the animal at your home until an owner can be found, you can file a Found Pet Report with CNHS. Please note that if you choose to keep the found animal for a period longer than a week, CNHS may not be able to accept it into the shelter as a stray and the animal will be added to the surrender waiting list until we have a kennel available. To avoid this, please bring the animal to us within one week of finding it. 
• If you are unable to or do not wish to keep the animal at your home, you may bring the pet to CNHS as a stray. You will be asked to provide a valid form of identification and to fill out our Stray Form to give us some additional information about the animal. Please note that CNHS can only accept strays found within Hall County, NE. We do not have capacity at this time to house strays found from other jurisdictions. If you find an animal outside of Hall County, please contact the law enforcement office in the area the animal was found for guidance on how to proceed. CNHS only accepts feral cats from Hall County and only when sick or injured. Healthy feral cats will not be accepted from any jurisdiction. 
• If you are unable to or do not wish to keep the animal at your home, you may also contact the Grand Island Emergency Center at 308-384-9380 to have an Animal Control Officer dispatched to your location. Animal Control responds to confined strays at all hours. 

Once an animal has been brought to CNHS as a stray, it is held for the 72 hour stray hold period. After this time, it will be assessed and potentially move forward to become adoptable. Finders are not given first pick for animals they bring into the shelter, but may call CNHS for updates on the animal’s status.