Who are we?
Our founder, Katie McCandless founded Missing Pets Perth & Kinross in 2010 when her family dog, Charlie, went missing. Katie experienced the dread of having a pet go missing and set up our group to help others when it happens to them. Thankfully Charlie was reunited with his family fairly quickly but those lost hours were amongst the most awful that Katie experienced.
Originally set up as a group of volunteers, we became a charity in 2024 and remain a free to use service. Neither our volunteers or trustees are paid and we rely on public donations to fund the purchase of specialist equipment such as drones and thermal binoculars (scopes).
Katie announced her retirement from the charity in 2026 after giving 16 years of her life to helping Missing Pets, but still acts as an adviser, using her wealth of experience gathered over the years.
The charity is managed by a group of trustees, supported by a fantastic group of volunteers who give their time and commitment for free. We have also expanded to receiving donations of pet food which is distributed to local food banks and to working with other volunteer groups to help the safe return of missing pets.
What can we do?
We can assist and advise on what to do if your pet goes missing. Most pets will return to their owners reasonably quickly but in some cases, they wander further afield and this is where we can help. We can:
- post appeals on our Facebook page. With thousands of followers, we have a wide audience in Perth & Kinross.
- If your pet remains missing, our volunteers can assist with setting traps (mainly for cats) or foot and drone searches (mainly for missing dogs), using trail cameras where possible.
- Provide initial guidance on what you can do to help your pet make its way home.
What can’t we do?
We aren’t vets so we can’t help with the treatment of animals, nor are we an animal rescue so we can’t take animals into our care. We can, however, provide you information on what to do if you find an injured or lone animal.