Praise for Our Pet Detectives
Praise for MAR Technicians Annalisa Berns and Landa Coldiron:
On Saturday, December 15, 2007, our beloved cat Magic walked out our front door. Magic is 14 years old and has never been outside. Magic is a very timid cat who spends most of her days hiding in a closet, sleeping in a chair in the sun, or hanging out under my bed. In fact, I am the only one who can touch her. Since Magic spends most of her time under cover it took me until Sunday night to realize that she was missing. To say that I was devastated is an understatement. I spent hours Sunday night searching my yard and my neighbor's yard for her. On Monday morning my husband passed out flyers to all of our neighbors. I spent Monday afternoon searching my neighborhood to no avail. I was really feeling that I would never see my cat again. At 8:00 on Monday night I received a call from a pet sitter who had taken care of my dog. She gave me the number of Canine Search and Rescue. She said that this would be my best chance of finding my cat. I called Landa and as soon as we began talking and I heard her calm, clear advice I knew that I had to hire her and Annalisa. Landa gave me some instructions to follow prior to her visit on Wednesday. I finally felt that I had a plan to find my cat. When Landa and Annalisa showed up at my house on Wednesday morning I knew that I had a made the right choice. They were professional and ready to get down to work. After their hard day of work at my house they sat with me and went through many details to help me find my cat. They provided me with the scent trail, told me where to look after sunset, and told me how to determine if a sighting of Magic was a true sighting. In addition, they set my cat trap for me and they made posters for my missing cat and plastered them all over my neighborhood. To say that their scent trail was 100% on target is an understatement. At 6:00 PM I went into the backyard where they had detected Magic's scent. I walked into the back corner of the yard, shone my flashlight, and there she was. Capturing Magic proved to be a tricky process. After many phone calls to Landa and Annalisa, sitting in the wet leafy mud for four hours, and by following their good advice I was able to bring my cat home. I would never have found my cat if it hadn't been for Canine Search and Rescue. Landa and Annalisa are two of the most professional, smart and compassionate business people I know. They are the best and I would recommend them to anyone looking for a lost pet.
Shelley, West Hollywood, CA
Praise for MAR Technicians Annalisa Berns and Landa Coldiron:
Dear Annalisa and Landa, I apologize for taking so long to write and thank you for the incredible job you did in helping us to find our Stuart. Having to return to work immediately after finding our dog was a little over whelming! Though we had a vague and general approach to the search for Stuart it was your in-depth knowledge and focused strategy that kept us motivated and directed to the probable areas he might be located. Professionalism and an extensive background in this field was crucial to the recovery of our little dog , especially considering the numerous dangers existing in the area in which he had gone missing. I honestly believe we would have not found him without your guidance. We thank you so very much
!
Andrea & Louie Briones, Riverside, CA (Stuart especially thanks you!)
Praise for MAR Technician Bonnie Hale and her dog Murphy:
After losing my dog in the vast Shawnee National Forest and searching for many hours, I began thinking of other alternatives. I decided to use a search dog out of St. Louis, MO. After Bonnie and her dog Murphy drove two hours to get to Carbondale, we began our hunt to find Rasta, my beagle. After three hours of difficult hiking, Murphy could not find his scent. Therefore, Bonnie made the observation and advised me to look around the forest, rather than in it. This, indeed, was the key. Because Murphy did not catch any significant scent, Bonnie knew what that meant. So, my boyfriend and I went door to door in the vicinity and were given great hints by those who believed they saw Rasta. Nearly twenty-seven hours after being lost, we found Rasta two miles from the Shawnee National Park, just as Bonnie thought. Rasta was found at 8:30 at night at a church. If you lose a pet, don't ever give up! Thanks Bonnie for all your help and confidence you gave me!
Courtney Goodman, Carbondale, IL
Praise for MAR Technician Lori Wieber from Lost Pet Search Solutions, LLC:
Dear Lori,
I spoke with you last weekend about our terrier who escaped during a home invasion robbery. I just wanted to thank you again for all of your help and let you know that our baby is back at home as of last night!!! It turns out she was sold to someone the day of the robbery. Anyway, the person who bought her lives quite far south in Chicago and hadn't been back to work since she bought our dog, but her co-worker saw one of our posters. Our baby had a rough week we imagine, but she is healthy and very happy to be home. I can't tell you how happy we are....it seems like a miracle to us to have her back with us a full week later! THANK YOU! I will certainly mention your name and services to friends who may find themselves with lost pets in the future. In the meantime, we are getting a burglar alarm installed and having our dogs microchipped today :-)
Amy, Chicago, IL
Praise for MAR Technician Cathy Orde and her dog Zoë
A friend and fellow dog trainer contacted a small group of friends that her service dog, Hunter, escaped from her mother's yard in Iowa the day she was going into the hospital for eye surgery. Although the group of friends was not large in numbers, you would not know that by what transpired over the next few days. Before long there were people helping from all over the world.
I was on the 5-man task force that helped coordinate the search which was named "Hunter Come Home." When Hunter wasn't found after a day of searching it was decided to get a pet detective on the job. Cathy was contacted and agreed to go to Iowa and head up the search. She drove straight through to Iowa City and met with the 'feet on the street', a group of friends who were working the streets putting up flyers and going house to house in the neighborhood where a Hunter sighting had been reported since his escape.
There were many people involved in the search behind the scenes keeping us, who were scattered in so many states, up to date with details of the search, making up flyers and sending literally hundreds of faxes and emails to local businesses and vets in the area.
Cathy's professionalism and courtesy were evident from the initial contact through her follow-up after Hunter was safe and she had returned home to Wyoming.
I was very impressed with the service that Cathy and her search dog, Zoë, provided. If it were not for her expertise I don't know if or when we would have found Hunter.
Thank you, Cathy, for a job well done. I will always remember the picture which will be forever etched in my mind of Zoë nudging Hunter down the hill to go to his mom right after Cathy and Zoë found Hunter. After Cathy told Hunter's mom to call him, it was evident from his prancing back and forth that he not only heard his mom call him but he was apprehensive about going down the hill to get to her as the terrain was quite steep. I wish I could have been there as Zoë not only nudged Hunter down but followed him all the way to Hunter's mom and the two jumped into the van together. What a story. There was not a dry eye in the houses of those reading their email that Hunter was found and in good health with only minor injury to his pads. A truly happy ending! Zoë, you're the greatest!
I would highly recommend Cathy as a pet detective.
Cher McCoy, Task Force, Hunter Come Home
Lexington, VA
Praise for MAR Technician Bonnie Hale and her dog Murphy:
Bonnie was wonderful. She responded within several hours to my original email and had ideas from the beginning. Her sense of where my cat was is amazing. With her help, we concentrated on the local area she felt the kitty was in, and sure enough, she was home about 12 hours later! Bonnie went out of her way to help with our search, offering to knock on doors, create fliers and be supportive. She studied satellite maps before arriving to help with the search and spent several hours with us. I would not hesitate to use her services or recommend her to anyone. She has a great heart, a great sense and simply wants to see people reunited with their fur babies.
Amanda B., Edwardsville, IL
Praise for MAR Technician Cathy Orde and her dog Zoë:
The thing people say most often after telling them about our cat running away and that she was caught by Cold Nose Investigators is "There really are pet detectives?" We can't say enough about Cold Nose Investigators and what great people they are and what professionals they are in their work.
What impressed us the most throughout the whole thing was Cathy and Curt's determination. They were out looking for our cat Maya every night, in extreme conditions, using very high tech equipment and we'd never even met them or sent them one dollar. And I could tell from Cathy's voice on the phone that once they had seen Maya, they knew they could catch her.
Two nights later they did catch Maya. They had determined where she was feeding, the path she was taking, and they adjusted their strategies every night to get her into that trap. After Maya being "lost" for six days, we got a call in the morning that Curt and Cathy had Maya and were headed back to their house to warm her up, and see how she looked.
My family can't thank Cathy, Curt, and Zoë enough!
The Boswells
Praise for MAR Technician Bonnie Hale and her dog Murphy:
Friday night our worst nightmare happened. Tucker our cat was on the deck and got spooked and took off running. I had to jump a rail to follow him and by the time I got to the front of the house he was out of sight. We frantically looked for him until dark, searching the neighborhood and calling his name. We put food and his toys on the front porch hoping he would smell them and come back; we left the garage open all night hoping he might wonder back; we stayed up all night taking turns watching out the window. This was extremely difficult for us because last September we lost our home in a fire. The fire also took the life of our 3 kitties, who were beloved family members. The thought of losing another cat this soon was unbearable. Even though we have only had Tucker for a short time, he has helped us heal from our tragic loss.
As soon as there was some light we started searching on Saturday morning. My husband came in and searched the internet for information on finding lost cats. I came in and started reading and found a link to the “Missing Pet Partnership” through an article on Best Friend’s website. It had a tab called “Find a pet detective.” I clicked on the national directory; there were not even 30 pet detectives registered in the US, so I was ecstatic to find Bonnie Hale in St. Louis. I immediately called Bonnie and left her a message that Tucker had got out and we couldn’t find him. She called back and said she and Murphy would drop what they were doing and come help us look for him.
When Bonnie arrived she asked about Tucker’s behavior and told us how they work and did a great job of not raising our expectations too high. This is not a sure thing, so we even discussed what to do if Murphy can’t find him. She also went over what Murphy will do if he smells him and his signals if he finds him. Bonnie said if he finds him, Murphy is immediately rewarded and we need to secure Tucker. Then the search began. Bonnie gave Murphy one of Tucker’s toys to smell and told him “Find the Kitty.” Murphy was incredible. It was very obvious where he smelled a cat and where there was nothing. We searched for a while and came across an old out building, with a hole at the base that a kitty would easily get through. The building was packed full of stuff, but we took Murphy in and he got to work. The kind gentleman who owned the building said we could take out or move anything we needed for our search. Murphy was climbing and digging and quite excited. We started moving stuff out and Murphy did not let up. Finally I was able to get down on the floor and look under some of the furniture where Murphy was most interested and back in the corner were 2 very scared kitty cat eyes staring back at me. I was overwhelmed and screamed for the flashlight, I shined the light in on Tucker. Bonnie and Murphy went out and guarded the hole and Tom and I started moving furniture to get to Tucker. He was so scared that I ran back to the house to get the kitty carrier, because it was obvious he could not be carried home. We eventually got to Tucker and got him into the carrier. It was the happiest day of my life.
When they were getting ready to leave I asked Bonnie where she got Murphy and she told me Animal Control. How incredible is that? If Bonnie hadn’t saved Murphy, Murphy couldn’t have saved Tucker and all the animals he has and will help. My hope in letting you know about this will spread the word about Bonnie and Murphy and the wonderful work they do.
Martha Freeman
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