We work in the service of animals
I’m happy to help humans if we can, but dogs and cats are the priority.
We work in the service of animals.
I spend all day, every day, talking to people about cats and dogs. I started volunteering with Missing Pet Partnership 14 years ago because I wanted to work alongside my dog Kelsy as her partner. Kelsy and I had 8 great years working together, and we found dozens of lost dogs. I sometimes encounter people that I’ve met along the way, while helping more than 10,000 lost dogs and cats over the years, and I draw a complete blank as to who the person is. I will usually ask, “What was the name of your cat or dog?” I am much more likely to remember the dog or cat. Partly this is because I like cats and dogs more than I like most humans. Partly it is because it is my job to focus on the details of the cat or dog. I remember, like it was yesterday, how Kelsy followed a zig-zag scent trail until it hit 26th Avenue, and then she followed the scent straight north for a mile, to a pet store, where they remembered a woman bringing a little dog in to buy him a blue jacket. I remember the dog’s name was Reese’s, a black and tan chihuahua. If the woman who hired us to find Reese’s ran into me at the post office, I would have no idea who she was, unless she said, “I’m the one that fostered Reese’s.”
When someone calls me about their lost pet, I will typically spend 30 minutes to an hour learning about the situation. I learn about the neighborhood, the types of yards and landscaping, the nearby ravines. I learn about the relationship between the pet and the family. I ask the most questions about the cat or dog’s physical characteristics, life history, and behavior and personality. I build a profile of the lost pet. This helps me give the best advice. You would look for an indoor-only cat in a different way than you would look for a cat that wanders the neighborhood on a daily basis. You would look for a bloodhound differently than you would search for a basenji. During an interview or consultation, I spend most of the time listening, taking notes. I make note of details they tell me that might not seem relevant at first, but then sometimes these extraneous details can be useful. Stewart, the cat that fell from the third story balcony, was particularly attracted to chlorine, and things with a chlorine smell. I made note of it, and didn’t really think much of it until Mu found Stewart under the building next to the swimming pool. I remember a cat named Stewart is inordinately fond of a chlorine smell, but I would have to look at my notes to tell you his owner’s name.
Understanding human behavior is critical to finding lost pets, in addition to knowing the typical behavior of cats and dogs in these situations. In general, humans make no sense to me. Dogs and cats are everything to me. They are accessible interfaces with nature, a unique opportunity to bond with another species, not just out of some survival benefit, which of course there is, but because we can be friends. Best friends. My best friends are dogs. I am friends with humans, too, but as far as I can recall, I am not friends with any human that does not have a deep friendship with a cat or a dog. When I am walking down the street with Tino, my gorgeous 115 pound Gerberian Shepsky, some people react by wanting to meet him and to pet him if possible. Others cross the street or turn around and retreat the way they came, as if I was walking with a wild wolf. So, there is a whole world of human behavior that is alien to me. While I don’t understand it, in the sense that I find it impossible to sympathize with people who don’t love dogs, I do understand it in the mode of an anthropologist from Mars, recognizing patterns of human behavior that impact the recovery of a lost pet. Humans, in many respects, are an alien species, as enigmatic as octopuses. Unless they are crazy dog lovers, which I totally get.
When a pet is lost, a human is to blame. Cats and dogs are innocent. If you have a Husky that is an escape artist, and continually defeats your best fortifications, it’s still not the Husky’s fault. She’s just doing what humans trained and bred her to do. Huskies run. They are built to run. Or maybe you have a cat who has lived indoors for 14 years and one day managed to get out via an opportunity that was no one’s fault, really, just an unforeseeable glitch, but even when no one did anything wrong, it’s still the human’s responsibility. People who do everything right can still lose their pets. When I say a human is to blame for every pet that is lost, it might be that some human (not the pet’s owner) was negligent, or even had bad intentions, or it could be that the responsible human was very conscientious and caring, and the pet escaped by a fluke. Even though I know everything there is to know about loss prevention, my dogs did escape when the wind blew the door open the other day. It wasn’t the fault of the dogs or the wind, but the silly human who didn’t make sure the door was latched. Either way, if the person is thoughtful or careless, it is the human’s responsibility to ensure the safety of that pet, and the pet’s disappearance is never the fault of the cat or dog that goes missing. The lost dog or cat is innocent.
I work in service of that lost cat or dog. Also, it is my job to serve my search dogs, to give them the best training and equipment, and provide them with opportunities for success. Sometimes we take on cases where there is a low probability of success, due to the circumstances or the passage of time. After we have a search with low chances of success, I try to take some cases where we are more likely to succeed. A search dog can get burned out if he always has to work the Mission Impossible cases, where we will only succeed if some unlikely event happens. On average, Mu and Tino are successful about 20% to 25% of the time, in the sense of pinpointing the lost cat or dog. We could have a much higher success rate if we only took on cases where we were fairly assured of success. I try to help as many people as possible, within reason. If I were to burn out my dogs, that doesn’t help anyone, and it would be a real disservice to my dogs.
Currently, we are working with Raphael, a floppy shepherd mix. He is a wonderful young dog, found in the woods as a puppy, along with his three brothers. Raphael has had some rough times adjusting to his new life, and some things were scary to him. Every week, I see him blossoming, become more brave and able to master typical dog behaviors that used to be too much for him. He is training to find lost cats, and after a couple of months of training, he appears to be on track for a great career. Whether or not Raphi ends up becoming a working dog, I want him to have the best life possible. If he does become my partner on cat searches, his safety and happiness will always be my highest priority. Yes, we do want to find the lost cat, but only if it can be done safely, without stressing the dog. Mu, the best cat-detection dog in the world, has found hundreds of lost cats. A couple of years ago, he started to experience anxiety, showing me that he didn’t want to do cat searches any more. He took a six month sabbatical, during which he only went to training and did fun things. I examined my own approach to the work, and how the finding of remains of cats was affecting my mood and Mu’s. Mu was able to return to work, and he has found many cats since his return, including the remains of cats. We have a new approach where Mu is rewarded and celebrated even if the finding is not a happy occasion for the cat’s family. It is still a job well done, and I can’t let the darkness of the job seep into my Mu, my best friend, my family. If Raphael becomes my main cat-detection dog, I will always serve his interests, setting him up for success the best I can. Raphael has a goofy happiness, and he just throws himself at life. I will not train him to do search work if it mutes that happiness. The work has to be a game for him. Training day is the most fun day of the week, and every mission he goes on will be a winnable challenge, a grand adventure, not a grind. It’s the only way to have a great search dog, to keep it fun for him.
Mu was chained to a tree, and I bought him for $100 to save him from a life of neglect and abuse. Tino’s mom was wandering in the wilderness, and I caught her in a humane trap to save her life, and the life of her unborn baby. Raphael appears to have been dumped in the woods along with his three brothers. A group of volunteers saved the lives of Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael when their survival would have been unlikely without our help. These three dogs, Mu, T, and Raphi, were discarded, unwanted by some humans. They are wonderful animals, and they are the center of my world, my greatest treasures. Mu and Tino and Raphael will only search for lost pets because it is fun for them, not out of any altruistic impulse. Although the dogs are not aware of the significance, I am acutely aware that these disposable dogs, unwanted, are now saving lives and reuniting families. These lost dogs are serving other lost pets, helping them avoid what could have been their fate. Hopefully before the end of the summer, Raphael will start working real cases, and before the end of this year he will have his first “walk up find” of a cat, saving a cat’s life. When he does, I will be aware that this magnificent, talented, funny, generous animal was once discarded by a human. My greatest treasure, a benefit to society, was once someone else’s trash.
When you come to me for advice or hire Mu or Tino or Raphael to try to find your lost pet by scent, we work in service of your cat or dog. We will take the approach that is in the best interests of your pet and also for the welfare of my dogs. We will be talking with you, but always keeping in mind that you are the advocate of your pet, and we are also advocates for your pet. Maybe you will be paying the bill to hire us, but you are hiring us to work for your lost pet. I try to always treat all humans with respect and courtesy, and I definitely listen to what pet owners are telling me. If the family of a lost pet is happy, then I’m happy. I think it would help people to understand, though, that I’m there to serve the cat or the dog, to do whatever is best for them. Generally speaking, humans are not my favorite species on this planet, and most human behaviors seem alien and incomprehensible to me. I hope you will forgive my occasional awkwardness with people and accept my animal-centered approach. My goal is to serve the pet’s family by making the cat or dog’s welfare my highest priority.
What a fantastic article .