Maricopa County releases tool to find lost pets
Sep 3, 2013, 4:19 PM | Updated: 4:19 pm
PHOENIX — Maricopa County Animal Care and Control has introduced a new service that may help owners locate lost pets: An interactive mapping tool.
“You type in your info, and the map will pop up,” said Maricopa County Animal Care and Control Spokeswoman Melissa Gable. “It will have a series of dots, which represent dogs, and a series of triangles, which represent cats.”
You top in either an exact address or the major cross streets in the area where you think your pet was lost. A little window will pop up with a picture of a pet that was recovered in the area, along with a description of the animal and the date that it was brought to the shelter.
The tool went online Tuesday. However, Gable said one man was reunited with his two dogs while the system was in the testing stage. When the man showed up at the shelter Saturday saying he had lost his pit bull and a husky near the intersection of 67th Avenue and Indian School, she decided to test the system. Once they typed the information on the website, a picture of one of the dogs popped up on the website. Gable and the man went back to the kennel and found both dogs.
Gable said the dogs “went ballistic” with joy when they saw their owner.
The county believes the tool is the first of its kind to be introduced.
To explore the mapping tool, click here.