Pet Theft Awareness Day: Learn How To Protect Your Pets!
What better way to say I Love You to your pet on Valentine’s Day than to be sure he or she is protected from theft? Pet Theft Awareness Day is, indeed, on Valentine’s Day this year, and we’re going all out to keep Sophie and Jasper secure.
Love is…our fur kids sleeping together
Some of you may know we’re moving to Fort Lauderdale shortly. Yup, we’re in packing purgatory, but we’ve also been looking at ways to protect our fur kids in this new suburban environment. Unlike New York City, where dogs and cats stay in locked apartments when not being walked (for dogs) or being supervised playing in the hallway (for both), suburbia is fraught with dangers we haven’t dealt with.
We’ll have a backyard now. So, we’ve made sure that it’s not only fenced in, but that the fence is completely dog proof. I wouldn’t imagine Sophie would try to dig out of the yard, but our Jasper, well that’s a different story. I call him our petit toro (little bull), as in a china shop! LOL. So, we’ve inspected the fence. We’ve replaced the lock on the back yard gate. And, I don’t think I’d ever leave them out in the back, unsupervised, anyway. It’s just not worth it.
Statistics tell us up to 2 million pets are stolen each year and that 1 in 3 pets will go missing at some point in their lives. What we may not realize is that less than 20% of dogs and 2% of cats are ever returned home. Where do these dogs end up? In unimaginable places, from research laboratories to puppy mills, from dog fighting rings as bait dogs to ritual sacrifices for satanic cults. Very scary stuff.
Our little smirky girl
Our little bull angel
What can you do to insure the safety of your beloved pets? Here are some tips from my favorite pet ID company, PetHub.com. They are the one stop shop for me; their tags/site include everything a pet parent could want for protection.
Why PetHub.com for us?
PetHub is a company of tech geeks who love helping animals. Founder, Tom Arnold, left Microsoft to figure out a way, using the most advanced technology, to better the statistics of reuniting lost pets with their owners. They came up with a truly revolutionary pet ID tag. They’ve really upped the game, too, because over the last three years, an analysis of hundreds of dogs and cats recovered through the PetHub lost pet recovery system showed that a whopping 96.7% are home in less than a day, and 35% in just 2 hours or less! That is a great example of really making a difference!
Here’s what the PetHub ID tag does:
- the first to utilize a QR (Quick Response) code on a pet ID tag that links to a unique, easy to update online profile of your pet
- a GPS locator system for lost pets. When the QR code is scanned by a smartphone, the location of your pet is pinpointed
- a 24/7 Found Pet Hotline, the only one to offer this as a completely free service
- an NFC Chip, the same technology as the microchip will be embedded into your pet’s ID tag
- the newest is the “Signal,” a Bluetooth-enabled tag that connects to a free smartphone app, and features a remote LED light and range finder (between 150-500 feet, depending on the model of smartphone). This combines with their existing QR code, web profile & 24/7 call center.
- their Pet Protect360 (www.petprotect360.com ), where you can get a DNA “genetic paw print” that can be used as a pet theft deterrent
Below, a helpful and fashionable, natch, Bark & Swagger and PetHub Pet Theft Prevention Tips info graphic, easy to print out and keep handy.
Have you had an experience with pet theft?
