If you have ever lost your pet, you understand the panic that happens as you begin to wonder what you should do and where to start. Maricopa has a new place where you can turn to help you find your lost pet! PetSocialWorker.org offers a free online database of stray, rescued, lost and found pets in the Maricopa area. In addition, the site offers tips, instructions and links to the local Pinal County Animal Care and Control forms needed to report a lost or found pet. Since moving to Maricopa in 2004, Kimberly Diedrich, owner of Home Is Where The Hound Is Pet Sitting has performed local lost and found pet duties, coordinating and posting on local forums and acting as a point of contact for both Pinal County Animal Control Officers and the two local Veterinarians in Maricopa. As the human population in Maricopa has increased, so has the pet population, which has lead to a severe increase in lost and found pet cases. Trying to keep up with the increase pets has proven difficult. PetSocialWorker.org started in 2007 as a place for animals available for adoption in Maricopa to be posted by rescue organizations and individuals helping to find forever homes for these pets. To consolidate information and offer local residents a place to go to find information if they have lost or found an animal, Kimberly added the lost and found service to PetSocialWorker.org in December of 2008. “Pet Social Worker is my user name on local internet forums. At first the site was a great way to showcase pets available for adoption in Maricopa, but the needs of the community have made it important to also offer the lost and found information”, Diedrich notes. Diedrich has collaborated with Maricopa Wells and the Maricopa Animal Hospital, Pinal County Animal Care and Control, as well as the City of Maricopa and local websites and newspapers. If a report of a lost or found pet comes into either Vet or through contact with Kimberly, the information is posted on PetSocialWorker.org and posted via news feeds on the other websites.

To educate Maricopan's about the importance of spaying & neutering companion animals and to find homes for as many homeless pets as possible.