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Thursday
May 24th

GPS for pets finding success with owners

bostonterrier111111_optHere, kitty-kitty.

Kitty? Where are you?

If you’ve ever experienced losing your cat or dog — or any runaway pet, for that matter — you know the agony involved in not being able to find a beloved member of your family.

Now there’s help.

Many pet owners are using GPS-type devices to locate their missing tabby or pup, and with much success.

Kristie Littrell, adoption manager at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, recently found a wandering lab-shepherd mix with a penchant for escaping by using a device called Loc8tor, which costs $100 for a basic model.

"I would never have found him without the GPS device on his collar," Littrell told the Associated Press.

The dog, aptly named Houdini, had been placed in a foster home by Littrell but broke out of his new owner’s home by pushing an air conditioner out of a window. Fortunately, his collar was outfitted with the tracking device.

Using a handset that picks up a signal from the tag on the collar within a range of up to 400 feet, Littrell was led to a nearby lot where Houdini was hidden because, she said, he was “the same color as the weeds” that covered him.

San Diego veterinarian Jessica Vogelsang recently blogged about another device — Tagg the Pet Tracker — on Dr. V at Pawcurious.com.

"I've been testing it for about a month now and I've been getting accurate locations with it consistently,” she said. “What I find really innovative about it, however, is how well they've integrated mobile technology so you can track your pet in real time not only on the site but with your phone, using the app or even text messaging."

To use Tagg, you must program an area in which you feel you pet is safe. If it leaves the area, you receive an email or text message telling you that your pet has gone beyond the boundary and where you can find him.

“I never dreamed in my lifetime that there would come a day when I would get a text message from my pet,” said Tagg user Mike Arms of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. Arm is president of the Helen Woodward Animal Center.

The Tagg Master Kit costs $100 and comes with a battery charger. You get one month of wireless service included in the cost; after that, the service is $8 a month.

Pet owners who have used GPS trackers — and there are several on the market — have sometimes been disappointed in the battery life, readability of the maps or distance range of their devices. So shop around to find out that’s right for you.

— JOE GREENE, NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

 

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