Now I'm a huge animal lover, so was really pleased when I came across this. Announced today in London, Retrieva and Orange have teamed up to launch a new phone-based tracking product for tracking down your lost dog.
According to the Missing Pets Bureau, nearly 2,500 dogs were lost or stolen every week last year. The Retrieva system will help combat this through its instant tracking and alert system linked directly to your mobile phone.
The unique Retrieva Tracking system package consists of the Retrieva collar, the ICyouâ„¢ home guard system and the sophisticated phone-based ViewRanger mapping solution.
The ICyou home guard system is an automated monitoring system that alerts owners if their dog leaves home unexpectedly. The unit itself is a portable smart base station which doubles as the charging unit for the collar.
The Retrieva collar has an Orange sim card embedded inside it and uses GPS, GSM and Radio Frequency to track the missing canine.
Dog owners will need to open the ViewRanger mapping application on their mobile and request the collar's location, which will then appear live on the map.
The comprehensive Orange network provides high quality coverage to 99% of the UK so dog owners can be confident that there will be sufficient mobile reception to utilize the service.
On a GPS enabled mobile, users will be able to plot their location against the dog's and bring up directions making the search much easier.
The collar features anti-theft, cut-proof technology, so if a thief tampers with the lock or tries to cut the collar, you will instantly receive a notification of this by text message.
The collar is also waterproof, so if your dog is a fan of the water, the collar will remain protected against damage.
Other functions include a panic alarm, designed for the safety of the dog owner whilst out walking. The owner simply presses a button and this sends an alert to any phone numbers programmed into the collar as well as sending the collar into 'track mode' so that the owner's location can be found.
"The partnership between Retrieva and Orange takes full advantage of the technology we're able to provide" stated Anthony Keyworth, director of products, Orange Business. "We're delighted to work with Retrieva and continue to innovate the way in which communications technology is used and help find all those lost dogs!"
The Retrieva Tracking system will be launched soon in the UK. It costs £9.99 a month to operate, plus a one off charge of £250 for the Retrieva package.
For further information visit the website here http://www.retrievatracking.com/