“Too hot to handle”: Making lost and stolen pets present in virtual space

Pets are socially, culturally, emotionally, and economically entangled in human lives. For humans, pets are loved, and the bond between human and pet extends beyond companionship to incorporate emotional and mental health benefits. Pet theft is a crime that exploits these emotional relationships with pets being stolen for ransom, reward, resale, and breeding. In this paper we explore the emotional geographies of online search/ing for missing and stolen pets. To do so, we utilise interviews with people whose dogs are stolen and have not returned, those whose dogs have been reunited, and with groups dedicated to reuniting missing and stolen pets. We also make use of posts from 20 Twitter/X¹ accounts dedicated to missing and stolen pets. In sharing posts online, humans utilise several search tactics. First, posts are shared with the idea of making pets “too hot to handle”. This involves using images and hashtags to “go viral”. Second, the posts are imbued with emotions, detailing the difficulties of losing a pet. Third, the use of images and descriptions of the pets’ charismatic qualities and characteristics are used to make their pets present online. The findings here have relevance to literature on absence and presence, emotional and digital geographies of human-animal relations, and online identity-making. The paper also provides practical insights into (in)effective strategies of online searching, which can inform public engagement practices of lost and stolen animal support groups and individuals looking to make lost and stolen pets present in virtual space.