Has your pet gone missing in Belgium? Exact steps

Updated: September 16, 2026 · Reunika

In Belgium, dogs and cats must be registered with DogID and CatID. Found animals are handled by the local police and the municipality's shelter, which keeps them for 15 days in Flanders and Brussels, or 20 days in Wallonia, before adoption. First, set your contact details to “public” in the register, then follow the steps below.

No account. Starting the alert takes 30 seconds.

Steps to follow

Search on foot during the first few hours, close to where your pet went missing: cats usually stay within 500 m, and dogs within 3 km.
Post an online notice with a photo and the exact location. On Reunika, the notice becomes an alert on Facebook and Instagram in the area where your pet went missing and appears on the town map.
Mark your pet as missing on DogID (online.dogid.be) or CatID (online.catid.be) and set your contact details to public. They are hidden by default, so anyone reading the chip cannot call you directly.
Call the local police zone (101) and the municipality's shelter. By law, found animals must be handed over to the municipality, and the recognised shelter must look for the owner through the chip.
Notify nearby vets. Any veterinary practice can read the chip for free and search DogID/CatID.
Post on Animal Search (animal-search.be, officially used by the Brussels police), BinnenBeest (Flanders and Brussels), Vermiste Katten (cats), Pet Alert Belgique and regional Facebook groups such as “Animaux perdus/trouvés/volés en Belgique” for French speakers. Include the link to your notice.
Put up posters at junctions, shops and veterinary practices, with a large photo and the QR code for your notice. Do not put them on posts or street furniture without authorisation from the bourgmestre (mayor).

What is specific to Belgium

DogID: registration for dogs has been mandatory since 1 September 1998 (the microchip must be implanted before 8 weeks and before any transfer). CatID: registration for cats has been mandatory in Wallonia since 1 November 2017, in Flanders since 1 November 2017 for kittens, and for all cats in Brussels since 1 March 2023.
Anyone who finds an animal must hand it over to, or notify, the municipality through the police (101) within no more than 4 days under the law of 14 August 1986, art. 9. In Wallonia, this must be done without delay under the Code du bien-être animal, D.12.
The shelter holding period varies by region: 15 days in Flanders, 15 days in Brussels, with adoption possible from day 16, and 20 days in Wallonia. After that, the animal becomes the property of the shelter. A reward: the Civil Code requires a “reasonable” one for the finder (art. 3.59).

Common questions

I have found an animal in Belgium. What should I do?

Take it to a vet to have the chip read, notify the local police (101) or the commune within 4 days at the latest, or without delay in Wallonia, and post a found-animal notice with a photo and location, for example on Animal Search. The commune's recognised shelter must look for the owner.

Why has nobody called me even though the chip is registered?

Because contact details in DogID and CatID are hidden by default. Log in to your account and set your profile to public. Otherwise, only the register, a vet or the police can contact you, potentially after a delay.