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Returning lost pets to their owners without even entering the shelter is increasingly important for keeping pet families together, controlling costs, and decreasing intake to crowded shelters. When Brian Lloyd took over management of the City of Port St. Lucie’s Animal Control Division in 2001, most lost pets never found their way home. Bryan implemented a novel lifetime licensing program with a heavy emphasis on microchipping and a new lost and found page on their website. His officers also changed their focus from transporting loose animals to the shelter to a community-centric approach of spending extra time in neighborhoods knocking on doors in search of the pets’ home. The shelter now has a Return-to-Owner (RTO) rate for dogs over 75% with half taking place in the field without ever entering the shelter. Cat RTOs increased to 17%. The average RTO rates across the state are 38% for dogs and 3% for cats. In this session, Bryan will describe how the program operates, the field officer experience, fiscal and public safety impacts, and new enhancements under consideration. Bring your questions and tips for increasing RTOs, because we’ll save plenty of time for discussion.