(NECN: Amy Sinclair, Acton, ME) – Animal lovers know how heartwrenching it can be when a family pet disappears.
Now there’s a professional they can turn to for help.
NECN’S Amy Sinclair takes us on a search for two missing cats with Maine’s first licensed pet detective.
Lisa Nazarenko is the founder of Lost Pet Tracking Dogs.
It’s been five long days since Mason and Buddy were last seen. After signs on phone polls around Acton, Maine, failed to bring back the cats, their owners called Lisa Nazarenko, Maine’s first and only licensed pet detective.
"We've been doing this for three months now,” said Nazarenko. “We've brought home 23 of 26 pets."
Using the scent swabbed from the missing cats favorite towel, Nazarenko works with a team of four tracking dogs, one at a time.
Local
But a few hundred yards away, Mason, a boxer hound mix, takes off leading Nazarenko into a wooded area and sadly what looked like a coyote kill site.
She decides to bring her bloodhound Vida in for a second opinion.
"To confirm with another dog so I can be 100 percent sure,” said Nazarenko.
Vida picks up the scent immediately.
Nazarenko knows first-hand how heartwrenching it is to have a pet go missing. She spent two months looking for her yellow Labrador Cappuccino.
With help from a pet tracker from Maryland, she found her dog’s remains.
“When I looked for Cappuccino, I vowed that New England would have a K9 team so we don't have to hire someone from Maryland or the west coast to come track the animals."
In less than five minutes, Vida’s nose led her straight to the coyote den and while it wasn’t the outcome she’d hoped for, Nazarenko had an answer for Buddy and Mason’s owners.
“So they're not out there racking their brains, walking these woods for hours and days.doing endless searching," she said. “It's closure."
Her experience as a cardiac nurse and animal lover helps her break the news gently.
"I'm sorry i was in your spot a year ago I know it's upsetting."
Case closed, until these expert noses are needed again.
In case you’re curious, she charges $150 for the first hour of tracking and $60 an hour after that. But she says most animals are located in an hour.
For more information, you can go to their website at www.lostpettrackingdogs.com
