One of the wonderful aspects of being a dog, I would think, is that you are only as old as you feel. No one minds if your ears and beard become white, or if it takes you a little longer to get up from your bed. If you still want to do your job–whether it’s policing crumbs around the kitchen table, serving as a loving companion to a person in need, or even continuing to work at scouting out termites or locating cadavers, you can be useful until the time comes when long naps on a sunny porch are your favorite way of spending the day.
Kathy “Kat” Albrecht, was a police officer with the University of California at Santa Cruz Police Department, when she realized that retired working dogs could have successful second careers. As a field training officer and K9 handler, she kept as a pet one of the bloodhounds who had been retired by the police force.
AJ, a nine-year-old dog who had received many awards for his successes in police work, dug out of his yard one day, undoubtedly captivated by some irresistible scent. Kat came home, found him gone, and was beside herself with worry. She immediately called a colleague to bring over a golden retriever trained in scent discrimination. Thalie, the retriever, was given AJ’s bedding to smell, and they all set out on the hunt. Within 15 minutes, Thalie had located AJ, and in the process, Thalie and AJ provided Kat with an idea for what she has turned into her life’s work.
After experiencing the panicky feeling when she saw no AJ in the yard, Kat realized that a service to help locate lost pets could be of great value. With her background in forensics and police work and her ability to work with the all-important canines she planned to use as her team, she felt she had special skills that could be helpful.
Kat’s PET-SAR service began in 1997 with two retired dogs from the K9 force. Rachel, a Weimeraner who had primarily been used by the police for cadaver searches, was used to identify the general area where a search should take place. AJ, a great scent hound, could tightly follow a trail even if were several days old. (Bloodhounds are descended from Saint Hubert hounds raised by French monks in the 7th century, and they are unique in their ability to differentiate odors.)
With her skills of detection, Kat elevated the process of searching for pets to a scientific level not used before. She uses high-tech equipment such as infrared cameras, amplified listening-devices, and search cameras. With cats, she has found that probability theory and Feline Behavioral Profiling can be helpful, She writes about her transition to pet detective and documents many of her rescues in The Lost Pet Chronicles: Adventures of a K-9 Cop Turned Pet Detective (Bloomsbury, April 2004) and she maintains a website: katalbrecht.com. By this time she has added other dogs to the team, since AJ and Rachel eventually retired (and by now have passed away).
In 2001, Kat founded Missing Pet Partnership, a national nonprofit organization that provides information for behavior-based lost pet recovery tips and referrals to lost pet services. The organization also offers training for people who want to help pet owners locate their lost pets.
Kudos to Kat and her dogs!
Thank you, Pat! Hope to see you soon.
Kate