One in three pets is lost during their lifetime. Only one in ten is reunited with their family.
If your pet goes missing, do you know what to do?
Taking action quickly will help increase the odds of finding your pet—before they can get too far away, or worse, injured. The ASPCA offers a few tips for bringing your pet back home, safely and as quickly as possible:
- Be sure your pet isn’t hiding in the home, or nearby. Ask neighbors to help keep watch.
- Make some calls—include animal shelters, veterinary clinics, animal control, and rescue groups in the area. Let them know your pet is missing and see if they’ve received any intakes matching your pets’ description. Visit to check if your pet was recently picked up as a stray. Let them know if your pet is microchipped.
- Get the neighborhood involved—post on your local community blog or post flyers.
- Use technology—send out emails, blog posts, tweets, Facebook posts and reach out to any other mobile networks you have access to. The more people looking for your pet, the better.
And speaking of technology helping us find our lost furry pals…
What about picking up your phone to check out a map of precisely where your pet is?
Pet GPS systems are one tool helping pet owners have peace of mind when it comes to keeping pets safe, and is a growing technology available to track down furry runaways. These devices are small and can be attached to your pet’s collar and functions like a tracking device, sharing your pet’s location at the time the device is activated. The device syncs with a mobile device, and at any time (though the devices only work if GPS is available), you can check on your pets location and it will pull up a map of your pet’s location at that moment. You can refresh the application as often as you’d like to keep track of your pet’s current location.
These systems require an initial fee to purchase the device and any necessary accessories, and then you will be responsible for a lower monthly fee to maintain service. Many companies offer additional services in addition to the GPS tracking, such as notifying you once your pet has escaped a preset area or monitoring the temperature at your pet’s current location. Pet GPS systems are designed to work in the country in which they’re sold, so be sure that your GPS pet tracking will work out of the country if you’ll be traveling.
Similar devices track your runaway pet similarly, but not using GPS. These devices also attach to your pet’s collar, but a social network of smartphones is how your pet is tracked. Anyone who has the free mobile app will be notified once your pet comes within a 200-foot Bluetooth range, once you put your pet in “lost mode.” The app also show your pet’s last known location. Anyone without a pet can help find lost pets as well, simply by downloading the app on their smartphone. This service is free, after the initial purchase price, and relies on the network of smartphones to locate your pet if he goes missing.
Any of these devices can help bring your furry friend home. While requiring at least an initial purchase and batteries (battery life varies based on the device), but any of these tracking systems can go far in helping bring your pet home quickly.
Technology is constantly evolving. We can hunt down a missing phone or tablet—why not our pets?
Want to know more options on the GPS systems available in the market for your motor vehicle then check out these options.
By Rachel Leisemann Immel