Did you think Ace Ventura was the only pet detective around? Turns out there really are professional Pet Detectives out there who will implement the Missing Animal Response (no kidding) to track down on-the-lam Fidos and Fluffys.
"Pet Hunters International (PHI) is the first-ever pet detective academy that trains and certifies pet detectives and search dogs to track lost pets. PHI was founded by Kat Albrecht, a police detective-turned-pet detective who pioneered what are now called Missing Animal Response (MAR) services.
"MAR services mirror the same investigative techniques, technologies, and strategies that police detectives and search-and-rescue technicians use to solve missing persons investigations. PHI certifies ‘MAR Technicians’ to use high-tech equipment (amplified listening devices, night vision, baby monitors), cat detection dogs, trailing dogs trained to track lost dogs and horses, analytical methods like search probability theory and deductive reasoning to predict the distances that lost pets travel, and the collection and analysis of physical evidence. The MAR Technicians that we certify are typically animal lovers who are interested in working with animals and/or in training a dog to track lost pets."
I know what it’s like to love a pet and would be besieging St. Francis of Assisi with prayers and pounding the pavement in search of a lost animal friend of mine. But I can’t get over the feeling that "pet detective agencies" are just another manifestation of Western society’s tendency to idolize their pets.
//…and pounding the pavement in search of a lost animal…//
The only pets I’ve had that went missing were cats and, no pun intended, the search always began and ended at the pavement as cats seem to have some sort of attraction to fast moving cars.
It’s on this basis that it would appear that dogs are in fact smarter than cats.
Maybe they’re just bigger– I know of several small dogs that caught the cars they were chasing.
I, personally, think cats are just too stuck up to think that everything human might, possibly, not stop at their will….. *grin*
Oh yeah. People treat their pets like children or people-friends, then wonder why they’re spoiled and unruly. Then it just makes them even more disappointed in people–they put all that energy into a pet that can do nothing but love, and even if it’s naughty, it’s doing it because it “doesn’t know better,” and people come with baggage. My mother-in-law has three poodles that walk all over her because she calls them ‘her babies’ and gives them what they want. She’s the owner, they’re the pets. They’d all get along a lot better if all four of them knew that.
Though… on the other hand… I love my dumb, possibly retarded dog whom darwinism should have weeded out a long time ago. This poor boy can only remember, at any given time, three of the eight commands he’s been taught. And they’re never the same three. He’s been hit by trucks TWICE. he didn’t die the second time because of the $8,000 worth of steel rods in his legs from the FIRST time… he only got banged up a little last time. Since they are innocent, and you dont have all those mixed up relationships with them… it’s always so nice and comforting when things work out with your animal and he’s found or healed (and sometimes heeled 😉 ).
Many people who are extreme animal lovers find it way too difficult to love people.
Pets are easier than kids or real friends. They offer fewer real rewards, of course, but also fewer risks.
They will never betray you. They never have other plans. They will never marry someone you don’t like. They won’t talk about you behind your back.
A pet will never say “I hate you!”.
Well, maybe a cat will.
It’s also easier to train a dog than it is a child, because the dog *wants* to please you.