A device that clips onto a pet鈥檚 collar and calls home with its coordinates whenever an animal strays too far could put and end of the misery of losing a much-loved pooch or kitty.
The collar beacon, developed by GlobalPetFinder in New York, US, determines an animal鈥檚 position using Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite signals, and reports these back to an animal鈥檚 owner via a cellular phone network. The device is about the size of a large wristwatch and weighs 0.15 kilograms. It clips discreetly onto a pet鈥檚 collar.
Owners can find out the precise position of their pooch at any time, by sending a cellphone text message containing 鈥淔-O-U-N-D鈥� to a special number.
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But the transmitter also lets them create a virtual fence around their beloved pet and will automatically send alerts when the animal strays outside the invisible boundary.
Hot dog
It can even be used to monitor a pet鈥檚 well being, by tracking the surrounding temperature. It could, for example, warn them that a dog is overheating inside a hot car. The device also sends a warning message back to the owner when its batteries start to run low.
GPS receivers calculate their position using signals broadcast from several orbiting satellites, with a precise timestamp. Calculating the amount of time it takes for each signal to reach the receiver can be used to deduce coordinates on the ground.
The GPS component inside GlobalPetFinder鈥檚 collar gadget uses an ultra-compact, multidirectional antenna developed by UK company Sarantel, which can pick up satellite signals regardless of the antenna鈥檚 position, unlike many existing GPS devices.
Sense of loss
Katie Geary, spokeswoman for the UK鈥檚 Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), says more than 100,000 stray animals are found each year in the UK, many of which have been separated from a loving owner. 鈥淎nyone who has lost their pet feels a tremendous sense of loss,鈥� she told 快猫短视频. 鈥淭here certainly are a lot of strays out there.鈥�
But Geary also warns that the device could perhaps encourage some owners to be less careful with their pets. 鈥淚 think there are both good and bad points, depending on the owner,鈥� she says.
The RSPCA advises owners to have a radio frequency identification tag implanted in their pets, so that they can be traced back to them once found.
