Craziness...

[+greyhounder]

I'm posting this from a greyhound digest that I get. Thought it was interesting at any rate:

 

While microchips are fine for linking "found dogs" to their owners,

it doesn't really help the owner when the dog is still lost and

wandering the streets.

 

Now, GPS systems are available that can track the location of your

dog and report it to a cell phone.

 

Here's an excerpt from a recent NY Times article:

 

--- begin quote ---

For the Fretting Pet Owner, a Wireless Distress Signal

July 15, 2004

 

In one emerging technology, owners can keep track of their dogs by way of

miniaturized Global Positioning System receivers and mobile modems attached to

the dogs' collars.

 

''If the pet leaves the yard, you'll get a call on your cellphone, P.D.A., or

any other two-way wireless device,'' said Jennifer Durst, chief executive of GPS

Tracks in Oyster Bay, N.Y., which has devised a G.P.S.-based system called the

Global Pet Finder.

 

Ms. Durst said the system would be on the market by the end of the year and

would fit dogs of all sizes except toy breeds. The receiver will cost about $300

and there will be a monthly ''monitoring fee'' of about $13, she said.

 

''Cats will be next year,'' she said, ''in version 2.''

 

People who use the new system can set the boundaries for their dogs at a Web

site or on the miniaturized device itself, specifying how far their pets can

roam. It might be a backyard, Ms. Durst said, or, if both owner and pet are on

vacation, a section of a beach, perhaps, or the area around a motel.

 

Software checks the pet's position constantly, she said. When it passes the

default boundaries, an automatic alert is triggered and owners receive a text

message. ''It will say, 'Your pet has left' and send the exact location,'' Ms.

Durst said. Locations will be identified by street name and number or, for

certain cellphones, by maps.

 

''In rural areas with no street signs, you will be given directions from where

you are,'' Ms. Durst said. The G.P.S. receiver calculates the position, and the

coordinates are translated into a readable position.

 

The system is designed for any area covered by a G.S.M. cellphone network.

Prominent in Europe and Asia, G.S.M. networks are becoming more common in the

United States, where they are used by T-Mobile and some other providers.

 

Another application of wireless technology may help reunite pets with their

owners even when the animals are in another country.

 

--- end quote ---

[SiClops]

Yikes! don't tell the wife about this! I can see it now "honey, please wear this new bracelet I got you..."

[+Team Flying Dachshund]

I want one of these for my dog. If he gets out it is very hard to find him.

[+Cherokeecacher]

My goodness...that thing is pretty small. GlobalPetFinder

 

Edit:

Now if I can just train poochie to locate the cache and lay down on top of it, while I locate him

Edited August 4, 2004 by Cherokeecacher

[+Pyewacket]

I want one of these for my dog. If he gets out it is very hard to find him.

Is he camouflaged?

[magellan315]

I need to get one fo these for my cat. It never ceases to amaze how she can manage to disappear and not be found until shes ready, in a one bedroom apartment.

[CacheNCarryMA]

If version 3 is hamster sized, it would be good for geocaching.

[+Team Four Paw]

I want to put these on the FTF Freaks in my area...

[+greyhounder]

I want one of these for my dog. If he gets out it is very hard to find him.

Is he camouflaged?

 

Oh! That is just the funniest thing I've heard all day!!!

 

Bec

[+JMBella]

$289.00 (retail of $329.00), plus a 12.99/month monitoring fee.

 

Yikes! I'll just strap a garmin rhino to Bella, thanks.

[+cachew nut]

The battery is probably huge, otherwise you are recharging twice a day.

Edited August 5, 2004 by cachew nut

[+4x4 Trail Busters]

Just one step closer to big brother sticking its big fat nose in to everything and everywhere you go. Next we will all have to get a tatoo on our foreheads or hand before we could buy or sell anything.

[+Cherokeecacher]

Just one step closer to big brother sticking its big fat nose in to everything and everywhere you go. Next we will all have to get a tatoo on our foreheads or hand before we could buy or sell anything.

According to my sources, they already have a folder on you. I suggest thicker tinfoil.

 

This could end the debate on "how to get a moving cache approved" DOH, should have done it first then shared the idea

[+4x4 Trail Busters]

According to my sources, they already have a folder on you. I suggest thicker tinfoil.

 

This could end the debate on "how to get a moving cache approved" DOH, should have done it first then shared the idea

Take my word for it, it doesn't work and it makes you look silly!