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.


