ANCHORAGE - Anchorage Animal Care & Control officers said about 4,000 pets go missing every year, but a simple factor can change the outcome.

Looking for lost pets is a daily affair in Anchorage; owners like Destiny Hacker are doing whatever it takes to find them. There's not a day that goes by when Hacker isn't looking for her dog, Mr. Jackers. “He is my baby, he is my first and he is very special to me. He's very friendly, he doesn't really bark unless you get him going.”

A loving, happy, Jack Russell terrier, Mr. Jackers has been missing since February 3. He disappeared during one of the city's latest snowstorms.

“We have people coming in every day looking for their lost pets,” said Brooke Taylor of Anchorage Animal Care and Control. “Last year we had over 3,500 stray animals come into the building.”

One thing experts said you could do is make sure your animal is microchipped so they can return home safely. On average six out of ten lost dogs are returned to their owners, but only one out of ten lost cats make it home.

Identification and microchips make a big difference. “What we say to people is that its kind of your insurance policy, but the microchip is only as good as its registered information,” said Taylor. “People can't just get the microchip; they have to register it.”

Hacker said she's got those bases covered. She's gone from animal control to Craigslist and even to people's houses to see if someone has seen Mr. Jackers.

She did find another dog on her search for Mr. Jackers. “It wasn't our dog and it wasn’t' a Jack Russell, but that night I saw someone else’s Craigslist [post] and I called them [and] it was their dog,” said Hacker.

She paid it forward and hopes that philosophy will bring Mr. Jackers back home, where he belongs. ”He is loved, he is missed, we just want him home.” 

Mr. Jackers also answers to Jack. He's white, with brown and black ears, and freckles. Mr. Jackers was last seen in Mountain View around Irwin and Thompson streets. He has a lame hindquarter because of a leg disease he's being treated for.

If you've seen him or find him, please click here for contact information..

Anchorage Animal Care & Control holds on to animals turned into them for three to five days and then the pets are put up for adoption – which is why they said it's important to check on a regular basis to see if your pet may be there.