Detective reunites people, furry 'kids'

BOISE — Pam Rouda's "pet detective" title sounds like it's straight out of a pair of goofy mid-1990s movies about a Miami pet hunter starring the actor Jim Carrey, but the Boise woman's avocation has succeeded in reuniting dogs, cats and the occasional lizard in Idaho's capital city with their grateful owners.

After completing a weeklong pet detective certification course, Rouda and her canine companion Petey have started their own business, www.locatemypet.net.

They were called earlier this year when Angela Schonder's 5-month-old golden retriever puppy named Zola busted loose from her north Boise yard. Rouda used paper fliers, items with Zola's scent and a snare to scour the neighborhood. Though they didn't wind up finding the young pup — another woman eventually called Schonder with joyful news that Zola had been located — the pet owner says Rouda's service was still valuable.

"These dogs are my kids," Schonder told The Idaho Statesman. "I was willing to try anything."

Across the country, there are dozens of people who offer services as pet detectives.

Rouda's journey into the job began several years ago, when she hired a detective through Missing Pet Partnership, based in Federal Way, Wash., to help find her cat, Tiglet. Tiglet was located; meanwhile, Rouda sought formal training with Kat Albrecht, a former police detective in Clovis, Calif., who turned to pet hunting after losing a puppy.

Albrecht wrote "The Lost Pet Chronicles: Adventures of a K-9 Cop Turned Pet Detective," and her Missing Animal Response Technician certification requires a week of classroom training on lost animal psychology, behavior profiling, grief counseling and equipment use.

Rouda said she and Petey train twice annually to keep their pet-locating skills sharp.

For many people, pets aren't replaceable.

"There is this attitude when people lose a pet that you can just go get another one," Rouda said. "When a child goes missing, there are 500 people out there ready to volunteer. Are you going to say that to someone about their child? I don't want to come off in an inappropriate way, but these animals are family members."

So far, Rouda's longest successful search was 15 days. The shortest? Just 10 minutes. Rouda charges a fee for time and materials but often counsels people for free, given that not all searches result in a happy ending.

She said the best thing owners can do is stay proactive and positive. "Think lost, not stray," she said, on what people should do if they find a pet that appears to be wandering or without a home. "If an animal is sickly looking, hungry or mangy, people will assume it has been abused or neglected or that it's just wandering. But maybe there's a loving family who has been desperately looking for this pet."

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