A Cat Detective Helps Find Missing Pets

 

Those who work as pet detectives make a living helping owners find their missing pets. Their duties include making posters and handing out flyers, as well as conducting a constant physical search. They also swab pawprints and fur to get DNA samples. They can help police departments solve crimes involving missing or dead pets, and they may even take on cases involving pet-related kidnappings or murders.

Katz, who hung out her cat detective shingle in 2014, says she has helped return about 150 animals to their owners since then. She's one of a small number of full-time animal sleuths. Others pursue sleuthing as a part-time pursuit, combining it with other careers such as law enforcement, dog training or vet tech work.

A few months ago, a woman called Katz, saying her elderly cat Sheppie had disappeared. She told Katz that a caretaker was supposed to be taking her cat, but she doubted the caretaker's story because she knew the cat from before. Sheppie was a familiar, loving, docile cat who would not run away or be taken by someone.

In the end, Katz found Sheppie, alive and well, at the caretaker's house. The caretaker had been keeping Sheppie for two months while the owner was hospitalized, but it turned out the caretaker's daughter had been the one who took Sheppie. When the woman told Katz that her husband had been looking for Sheppie, she broke down crying.

Henry hears about the case, and he 猫探偵 immediately decides to help the woman. He knows Simon, the neighborhood's most mischievous rascal cat, and he is convinced that Simon has something to do with the disappearance of Mr. Parker. So, he goes over to Simon's house, where he finds him hiding in the bushes with an incriminating piece of evidence - orange cat fur that matches Mr. Parker's.

Simon looks at Henry with no guilt in his eyes, but he does not give him any clues about where Mr. Parker is. Then, Henry takes off to the park to conduct a more thorough search.

The detective will not stop searching until the missing cat is found. That can mean an intense, lengthy search that may last days or even weeks. A 10-hour search by a professional pet detective can cost as much as $1000 (source). It's important to choose your detective wisely, and ask for references, license information and check out their reputation with local animal shelters, veterinary facilities or business associations. Also, be aware that there is no guarantee that a lost cat will be found, no matter how much you spend on finding it. However, the chances of your pet returning home increase significantly with consistent searching. That's why it's so important to keep up the effort, and not give up on your search, even if you are losing hope. It's worth the money to improve your odds of reuniting with your beloved pet.