The Animal Rescue League of Iowa (ARL) in Des Moines announced a new partnership with state nonprofits to help owners find their missing pets. The Iowa Pet Alert system helps spread the word about stray animals taken in.

Stray pets are added to IowaPetAlert.com, where the alert is then broadcast through Facebook and Twitter.

The Iowa Pet Alert system is the only free, statewide database for missing and found animals.

“Prior to this partnership, people who had lost their pets would need to come to each of their area shelters each day to look for them, which is not ideal,” said Tom Colvin, executive director for the ARL, “It has been our goal for a long time to streamline this process to make it more convenient and accessible for people who have lost their pets.”