It was the Saturday morning of August 20, 2004 and my two kids saying that they couldn't find our cat Nala anywhere waked me up. I didn't pay much attention, because it was common for her to find a new hiding spot and sleep there for hours.
Hours later we realized she was really missing and we started to search for her. We looked all over the house, inside the closets, behind furniture, and then we got outside and looked on the trees, in the playground, around the pool, everywhere! We placed flyers around the neighborhood, she was never found.
Now I ask myself, how many of us have gone through that experience and think we don't have an alternative to those flyers?
Well, we do! Pet Tracking Devices, thanks to the miniaturization of GPS receivers and mobile phone modems even they can carry devices that allow them to be tracked by the owner. There is not yet a great choice of devices, but this probably will change rather fast and even though all actual (August 2004) existing devices are too heavy for domestic cats. It is believed that 2005 will bring several solutions for this problem. But if you own a dog, this may be a solution.
GPS Pet Tracking devices consist of a GPS receiver and a GSM modem. In some of the models data, sent to the secure website via a GSM network, can be accessed by the owner directly or through a call center. With other devices you simply call the telephone number of the GPS-GSM dog collar with your mobile phone. The GPS receiver in the collar calculates the position of the dog and sends the co-ordinates immediately in a SMS text to your mobile phone. Other models work as a wireless, electronic pager device that easily and remotely monitors the location of pets via the Internet anywhere in North America. The locations can be reported to email, pager, cell phone (as text message) and website.
The prices of GPS Pet Tracking devices start from $499.99, but there are some inexpensive solutions such as radio tracking, which works in a similar way to the find button on your telephone, you press a button and the device on your pet's collar emits a sound to alert you on the location.
Missing a pet can be as painful as missing a family member, so take precautions and keep your pet protected at all times, and if your budget allows, consider acquiring a GPS Pet Tracking device it is the most effective tool available today, hopefully in a few years a tracking chip can be implanted under your pet's skin, much like the pet identification chip, but until then, keep your pet safe!
Mariangie Gonzalez has a major in Animal Science and Pre-Veterinary and runs the day-to-day operations of her home-based business and website in which you can learn how homeopathic remedies could prolong and improve your pet's life. She can also help you start your own home-based 100% natural pet supplies business, you can visit online at: http://www.MindBodyAndPaw.com