Lost Pets
Lassie Come Home - II
Murphy's Law holds the one time you have your pet inside with his collar off for a bath or a good rubdown, he'll manage to maneuver outside. A microchip is added insurance that even without tags, your pet can be identified and returned to you. I strongly recommend even indoor-only pets be microchipped. Lowjack Collars - For the price of the collar ($250-$300) and a yearly registration fee, a global positioning service will track your pet. The drawback is you must rely on an outside service. In the works: models that sport a medallion chip rather than the bulky collar, and a hand held device for tracking the signal. Home Global Positioning System - This device allows you to use your computer to locate your pet. The home GPS has the staggering cost of $900-$1000 and by the time you get in your car and drive to wherever your computer said your pet is, the animal may have moved on.
While I'm wholeheartedly in favor of any technological advancement that unites pets and their owners, I encourage pet owners to use the old standby to find their lost friend: hit the pavement.
As a child, I remember searching for our lost pets. We'd stick posters on lampposts and ride our bikes through the streets, calling our beloved dog's name ("Noooodles!") and checking out all his or her favorite haunts. Entire neighborhoods would turn out to help search for a missing cat or dog.
Nowadays, aside from posters, we can also post our pets
information on the Web, blog about them, and use any
combination of the methods listed above. But it's always
a good bet when a pet disappears to walk your neighborhood
or drive around, calling and listening for your pet.
Just as Lassie longed for home, your pet longs to be
reunited with you. And don't you want to feel you did
everything possible to make that happen?
