How a GPS Tracker Can Save Your Pet’s Life

It’s the worst possible scenario you can ever imagine as a pet owner: you get home and there are no tails wagging and no joyful barks. Losing a pet is not just a stressful experience but also a heartbreaking one too. But the reality is tha t this does happen, and it happens to thousands of pet owners across the country. In fact, statistics say that approximately 10 million pets go missing or get stolen each year. Thankfully, around 15% of those 10 million animals get reunited with their owners due to gadgets like microchips, tags, and GPS locators. This fact alone highlights the crucial role that GPS trackers can play in your pet’s well-being and safety. 

When you’re searching for your missing pet, every second counts as the longer it takes to find him, the higher his risk of being exposed to injuries and all sorts of harmful scenarios. You need to act fast to find your dog. Without a GPS tracker to help you out, it can be overwhelming and totally mind-racking just thinking about where he can possibly be. You would have totally scoured the entire neighborhood and you still wouldn’t have found him. That can be an extremely frustrating experience: when you don’t know where he is, much less what to do. 

In this kind of situation, a GPS tracker can ease your worries, possibly even save the life of your dog in the process. Before we get around to discussing how exactly GPS trackers can do that, let’s first talk about why pets often go missing.

There are various reasons why pets go missing. For each pet, it’s a different story with various outcomes too. For instance, there are some animals that end up in shelters, while others find their way to veterinary clinics. But there is a huge majority that remain missing and end up being strays. As to why they go missing, here are some of the reasons:

  • Escape Routes

Pets are often creatures filled with curiosity. At any chance they can get, they will explore their environment. Even if you leave them alone for a few hours, their curiosity will always get the better of them, and they will go in search of escape routes. Thus, there are dogs that end up chewing their way out of the gate or digging under the fence.  Some dogs jump over fences, especially low ones, and the especially smart ones can even pick simple locks. 

  • Chasing After Something 

Pets, even though they are domesticated, still have that innate hunting instinct in them that will cause them to go off hunting squirrels, rabbits, or just about any creature that moves. Chasing after such prey can lead them to go deep into the woods or run about the entire neighborhood. There are times when they get too excited and forget themselves, and thus, they end up in unfamiliar places. This then makes it difficult for them to find their way home. 

  • Boredom

Many pets are innately active creatures. This means that they are born to be active and move around. If you keep your pet chained up in your yard, there is the chance that if they do happen to get free, they might grab their chance to run away out of their natural desire to entertain themselves. To prevent your pet from being this way, you must make sure that they still lead fairly active lives, even if you still opt to keep them in your yard for their own protection. For instance, you can opt to take your dog on a regular walk. 

  • Loud, Frightening Sounds 

Pets can easily get anxious at loud and sudden sounds. In their panic and as an attempt to escape these frightening sounds, they will often run away. Just like how it is when they’re chasing after something, they can often get lost and have difficulty finding their way back. On holidays like Fourth of July, in the midst of loud fireworks, flickering lights, and big crowds, it can be very easy for your pet to wander away from you. This is why it is important that when there are loud social events, you should create a safe zone for your pet. 

Statistics About Lost Pets

Like what we already discussed, time is of crucial importance when looking for a missing pet. In the first 24 hours, for instance, your chances of finding your pet is at the high rate of 90 percent. In the next few days, however, that figure will spiral down to about 60 percent. It especially becomes harder to look for a lost pet in rural places that have massive woodlands and vast gaps between houses. 

In the First National Lost Pet Survey, they released the following facts:

  • Around 14 percent of pets get lost or separated from their owners.
  • About 6 percent of those lost find their way to animal shelters. 
  • Out of the total number of lost pet cases, 93 percent eventually reunite with their owners. 
  • Around 15 percent of those who reunite with their owners happen to do so because they were wearing tags, microchips, and GPS trackers.

As a pet owner, you can spare yourself from the possible emotional distress you’ll feel if you lost your pet by investing in a GPS tracker. 

A GPS tracker is a device that you can attach to your pet’s collar. It has a chip that, through GPS technology, can detect the location of your pet and transmit the said location to you via an app or online portal that you can access on your smartphone or computer.

You’ll have to take note, though, that most GPS trackers aren’t created the same. Some only have basic features, while there are others that are more advanced. When shopping for a GPS tracker, you should be on the lookout for features that can help you look out for the well-being and safety of your dog.

Essential Features of a GPS Tracker for Pets

  1. Real-time tracking – This ensures that you’ll be getting accurate location updates in real time or as it happens. These updates are regularly refreshed at intervals of ten, thirty, or sixty seconds.
  2. Geofencing – This allows you to customize the device and set up safety zones for your pet. These are geographical perimeters wherein your pet is deemed safe. This can be your home and your backyard. Once he gets beyond the boundaries of these areas, an alert is instantly sent to you.
  3. Speed and motion alerts – Geographical locations are not the only things that such a device can track as it can also monitor the activities of your pet, like whether he is standing, sitting, or running.
  4. Health monitoring – Some of the more advanced devices have this: a health monitoring feature. With such a tool, you can keep track of the vital stats of your pet, such as his heart rate, breathing patterns, sweat, and the like. It becomes easy for you to monitor his health this way so you will always know whether he’s feeling sick or under the weather.
  5. Audio monitoring – This is a feature that allows you to listen in to the immediate environment of your pet so you can instantly know what is going on around him. It will also help clue you in as to where he can possibly be.
  6. Long-lasting battery – The last thing you’d want while using this device is for it to die on you. That’s why one of the things you should look for in a tracker is a battery that can last for days or even weeks without needing to be recharged.
  7. Cost-effectiveness – You will be using such a device for a long time and thus will be spending for its use for that period. You need to get a device that’s easy on the budget and won’t eat up too much of your expenses.
  8. Wide coverage – Look for a device that will work in international areas, preferably worldwide. Also, it should operate on a 3G network to ensure the fastest connection.
  9. Several connectivity options – As much as possible, get a tracker that gives you the most number of options when it comes to connectivity.
  10. Durability and waterproof quality – Your pet will wear this device outdoors as well as indoors, so it should be able to withstand all kinds of weather.

Judging from the features tackled above, you would need to look for a tracker that’s more than just the basics. It should offer you a lot of advantageous features while also remaining cost-friendly.

Tracki is the maker of the world’s smartest, most compact, and most cost-effective GPS tracker. It offers the widest set of features you will ever find in a tracking device. All the above-mentioned are features that you will readily discover in Tracki. And to top it all off, you can get a hold of such a device for a price that won’t bust a hole in your budget.