John and Ronia Weisner of North Carolina are still searching for Jeddah, their 4-year-old tan and white dog that escaped July 10 from an airline-issued kennel at Dulles Airport.

The Weisners, with help from local volunteers, have spent the last month in Northern Virginia searching for their “baby” - canvassing Loudoun and Fairfax neighborhoods, passing out flyers and posting updates to the Help Find Jeddah Web site.

Kim and Jason Hall of Ashburn, empathize with the Weisner’s plight. Their dog, Chance, went missing last summer. After days of canvassing and following up on various sightings and a few close encounters with the dog, it was a woman’s response to the Hall’s lost pet ad placed in the Loudoun Easterner that ultimately led to Chance’s return 15 days later.

In Loudoun County, stray dogs stand a decent chance of being returned to their owners, said Laura Rizer, community outreach manager for Loudoun County Animal Care and Control. Of the 66 stray dogs that came into the shelter during the month of June, 51 were returned to their owners.

Stray cats? Not so lucky. Just five out of 79 stray kitties went back home.

Rizer said the first thing to do if your pet is missing is to call your local animal shelter and file a lost pet report.

“People and vets tend to call us first when they find stray pets,” Rizer said.

Next, canvass your neighborhood. Drive and walk your streets and paths, post signs around the neighborhood and, if your community has a public Internet forum, post online that your pet is missing so neighbors can be on the lookout.

“Get the community to work with you,” she said.

And if you find a stray pet?

“Confine or leash the animal if you feel comfortable doing so,” Rizer said.

If there’s contact information on the pet’s collar, call the owner. If the pet has no collar or if the owner cannot be reached, call animal control to arrange a pickup. Owner not found? You may keep the pet at your home on condition that the animal has been reported as lost with the shelter.

If you don’t want to approach a stray pet or if it runs away, Rizer said, call animal control and report the loose animal immediately.

Unfortunately for cats and their owners, the department does not respond to stray feline sightings.

“It’s not illegal for cats to roam free in Loudoun,” Rizer said.

The Loudoun County animal shelter does accept lost kitties, but animal control will not come to your home and pick them up.

Have you lost a pet in Loudoun? If so, how did you get your animal back? Share tips with other pet owners below.