Frequently asked questions

No. You may submit a missing- or found-pet report without logging in. Creating an account makes it easier to edit reports, mark a pet as found, register pet profiles and track your points.

Use a clear recent photo and include the pet’s name, type, breed, sex, distinctive features, suburb, province and last-seen date. Avoid publishing private information that is not needed to identify the pet.

The website can use your device location only through your browser’s permission controls. Location may be used to populate an area, calculate approximate distance to a report suburb and apply nearby filters. Your precise device coordinates are not displayed on public pet cards.

The starting point is your current device location when you have permitted it. The destination is normally the approximate centre of the suburb shown on the report, not the reporter’s exact private address. The number is therefore useful for orientation, but it is not turn-by-turn navigation.

No. Public pet cards are designed to show pet and area information without exposing the reporter’s email address, mobile number or precise coordinates. Authorised platform administrators may access private contact details when needed to moderate or assist with a report.

Log in and open your Dashboard. Under Your recent reports, use the edit, delete or found controls available for reports linked to your account.

Every missing- and found-pet submission first enters Review status. An authorised administrator checks it before changing it to Approved, and only Approved alerts are public. The exception is a missing-pet report submitted with a paid Alert Booster: after PayFast verifies a successful payment, the linked Review report is automatically approved and published. Cancelled or unverified payments leave the report in Review. A report may later be Closed or Declined, and editing an Approved report returns it to Review so the changes can be checked.

A pet profile stores your pet’s key identifying details and photo before an emergency happens. When reporting that pet missing, you can select the saved profile to prefill the report.

When a signed-in user shares or copies a missing-pet report link, the link can include that user’s affiliate reference. A genuine new visitor can award 50 fixed points once for that alert link per incoming IP address or signed-in visitor. A genuinely new profile that registers through the referral can award 500 fixed points once. Self-referrals, duplicate accounts, bots, repeated clicks and manipulated registrations do not qualify. Persistent referral attribution is stored only when the visitor allows Referral rewards in cookie settings; otherwise it lasts only for the current browser session.

Eligible helpful actions earn points. Every complete 10 weekly points gives one entry into that week’s random draw. The competition week runs from Friday through Thursday, with an eligible winner selected and announced on Friday. The current point values and full rules are shown on the homepage and Competition Terms page.

A signed-in user earns 50 base points for the first visit to the Reported Pets page each South African day. Visiting the competition leaderboard no longer awards points. Homecoming Hero doubling applies to the standard daily Reported Pets visit reward.

Finish the game once per day to earn 50 base competition points. The reward is the same regardless of score. Your score is uncapped and only your highest score for the Friday-to-Thursday week is used on the game leaderboard. At Friday 00:00 SAST (UTC+2), the completed top 10 is archived and the live game leaderboard starts again.

Community Spotter is free. Homecoming Hero costs R59 per month and includes double points on standard rewardable events, access to the Hero Hub, Assisted Reunion Support and one free Alert Booster each South African calendar month. The member may use it on their own eligible approved missing-pet alert or donate it to another eligible approved alert. Core missing- and found-pet reporting remains available without a paid membership.

An Alert Booster gives one missing-pet alert priority placement for five days, a poster design sent through WhatsApp and a social-media share by Missing Pets. The R99 once-off paid option can be selected while submitting a missing-pet report; after PayFast verifies successful payment, that Review report is automatically approved and published. It can also be purchased later for an eligible approved alert. An active Homecoming Hero may use one free Alert Booster per South African calendar month or donate it to another eligible approved missing-pet alert. A successful donation awards 500 fixed competition points and uses that month’s free credit. Each report can receive only one Alert Booster.

After you allow external videos in Cookie settings, the Reunions and Community pages load the first three videos from their Missing Pets YouTube playlists. A signed-in user earns 100 base points once per eligible video after genuinely watching at least 80%. Replaying or skipping through the same video does not create another reward.

For account security, signed-in sessions are closed after five minutes without user activity. Moving, clicking, typing, scrolling, playing the game or actively watching an embedded reward video keeps the session active. Log in again to continue.

Yes. Use Cookie settings in the footer to change Analytics and External video permissions. Necessary storage remains active because it supports authentication, security and your saved choices.

Missing-pet alerts can be shared to Facebook or WhatsApp using the report-specific link. The link is designed to include the pet’s photo and identifying report details so that people can quickly understand and reshare the alert.

Do not pay strangers merely because they claim to have your pet. Ask for identifying proof that has not been publicly disclosed, avoid sharing verification codes or banking credentials, meet in a safe place where practical and involve a veterinarian, animal-welfare organisation or police if ownership or safety is disputed.

Confirm that you are using the correct email and that any confirmation email has been completed. For Google login, the website domain must be authorised in the Google OAuth configuration. You can also use Forgot password for an existing email or contact Missing Pets for support.

Use the secure Contact Us form, email contact@missingpets.co.za or use the WhatsApp option on the Contact page. When you are signed in, the contact form prefills your saved name, email and mobile number. Every valid submission is saved in the private administrator inbox before email delivery is attempted.