DALLAS; (June 9, 2025)─ Nearly 10 million pets go missing in the U.S. every year—and many of them never make it back home. But Dallas is taking action.

SPCA of Texas is one of just 25 shelters nationwide selected to participate in Network Neighbors, a new pilot project led by Best Friends Animal Society, a leading animal welfare organization working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters.

Network Neighbors, powered by Petco Love Lost, aims to reunite lost pets with their families by getting critical information into the hands of the people who find them—right in their own neighborhoods.” Lost or stray pets make up the largest percentage of animals entering shelters, and the Network Neighbors pilot program aims to empower the community to help reunite families.

Local volunteers are supporting SPCA of Texas by distributing bilingual yard signs throughout south Dallas. The bilingual signs feature a QR code that links to Petco Love Lost, a free, easy-to-use online tool that helps match found pets with their families, providing a simple way for found pets to easily be returned to their home before they are ever brought to a shelter.

Approximately 70% of lost dogs are found within a mile of their home. The signs are going up in areas of Dallas where Best Friends Animal Society’s last 12 months of data has shown a higher-than-average number of lost dogs.

“It truly is heartbreaking when a lost pet enters a shelter and we know someone is missing them as much as they are missing their family,” said SPCA of Texas Sr. Director of Lifesaving Operations Sarah Sheek. “More than 3.5 million lost pets entered shelters in 2024, and we are thrilled to be part of this project and help more of these animals get back to the people who love them. Not only are families reunited, but doing so makes sure our shelter isn’t filled with pets who already have homes.”

The yard signs are just the start. Over the next several months, SPCA of Texas, Best Friends, and Petco Love will be tracking the grassroots effort’s impact in the community. The program will primarily record and analyze dog data, because shelters have more data on the found locations of lost dogs—making it easier to measure impact. The goal is to impact both cats and dogs. If successful, Network Neighbors could expand to communities across the country—potentially reuniting thousands of pets and their families.

“Network Neighbors is all about working together to get lost pets back to their families, and save lives while doing it,” said Whitney Bollinger, Director of Strategy & Network Operations, Best Friends Animal Society. “We are grateful to SPCA of Texas and local volunteers for being part of this important project, the lifesaving impact of which will be felt in Dallas and across the country.”

The pilot program is a collaboration with the national non-profit organization Petco Love and Petco Love Lost, the largest national lost-and-found pet database and the only tool that uses photo-matching technology to reunite lost pets. Pet owners can create free profiles for their pets at Petcolove.org to increase the odds of their pets being reunited if they ever go missing.

Nationally, the number of dogs being reunited with their owners increased in 2024 by 2.5% over 2023, with 509,000 dogs getting back home—but the rate has still not returned to 2020 levels. Best Friends Network has designed Network Neighbors to help close that gap. Nearly 2,000 organizations were considered for the pilot program. SPCA of Texas and the additional 24 animal shelters were selected based on their lost dog data and eagerness to innovate to save lives.

If you or someone you know wants to place a sign in your yard, email volunteer@spca.org.

For more data and information about the number of pets entering shelters or being reunited with their owners (returned-to-home), visit the 2024 National Data Report.

About SPCA of Texas

Founded in 1938, the SPCA of Texas is a 501(c)3 non-profit animal welfare organization that operates one shelter, one spay/neuter clinic, one mobile adoptions vehicle and an animal rescue center, all located in Dallas County. The entity maintains a team of animal cruelty investigators who rescue hundreds of animals from cruel situations each year in North Texas counties. Moreover, the SPCA of Texas serves as an active resource center for an array of services that bring people and animals together to enrich each other’s lives.

The SPCA of Texas is not affiliated with any other organization and does not receive general operating funds from the City of Dallas, State of Texas, federal government or any other national humane organization. SPCA of Texas is dedicated to providing every animal exceptional care and a loving home. To learn more about the SPCA of Texas, visit spca.org.

About Petco Love and Petco Love Lost

Petco Love is a life-changing nonprofit organization that makes communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier. Since our founding in 1999, we’ve empowered animal welfare organizations by investing nearly $410 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. We’ve helped find loving homes for nearly 7 million pets in partnership with Petco and organizations nationwide.

Our love for pets drives us to lead with innovation, creating tools animal lovers need to reunite lost pets, and lead with passion, inspiring and mobilizing communities and our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners to drive lifesaving change alongside us.  Petco Love Lost is a free, national lost and found database that uses photo-matching technology to help reunite lost pets with their families with more than 100,000 reunions facilitated. Visit us at Petco Love (petcolove.org) and Petco Love Lost (petcolovelost.org).About Best Friends Animal Society

Best Friends Animal Society is a leading animal welfare organization working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters and make the country no-kill in 2025. Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters from an estimated 17 million per year to 415,000 last year. Best Friends runs lifesaving programs across the country, as well as the nation’s largest no-kill animal sanctuary. Working collaboratively with a network of more than 5,100 animal welfare and shelter partners, and community members nationwide, Best Friends is working to Save Them All®. For more information, visit bestfriends.org.

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