Kat Albrecht, a former police officer and bloodhound handler in Santa Cruz, Calif., had a career-changing moment when she was unable to find her escaped bloodhound, A.J. Unable to find expert animal rescuers, she turned to a friend with a tracking dog. Realizing that even though there are numerous detection dogs, there were no cat-detection dogs, Ms. Albrecht decided to pursue a career as a lost-pet detective. Along the way, she worked with researchers to study the behavior of missing cats and founded the Missing Animal Response Network to train people to search for lost pets.

Ms. Albrecht discussed her work with The New York Times, revealing that one of the most important aspects is understanding the behavior of missing pets. She also shared that techniques like using cat-detection dogs can be helpful in finding lost cats. She also emphasized that while people may assume that a skittish cat will go deeper into hiding when confronted with a dog, the dog’s ability to locate the cat is still important. Ms. Albrecht also discussed that missing dogs tend to run, and their recovery depends upon people recognizing them as lost. Lastly, she offered advice to pet owners on how to search for their missing pets, including broadcasting their pet’s disappearance and conducting a physical search of their property.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/science/lost-pet-detective.html