Episode Description
Losing a pet is a pet parent's worst nightmare. Join Lorien Clemens as she explores three of the best tech tools out there to help get lost pets home quickly. Show guests include: Shea Stoddard,administrator of the Animal-Bird Veterinary Center of California, and daughter of Dr. Hannis Stoddard who first developed microchips for use in dogs and cats. Kathy Pobloskie, founder of Lost Dogs of America and expert on helping lost pets through Social Media. Tom Arnold, founder, and CEO of PetHub, the world’s leading digital ID pet ID tag.
Guests:
- Kathy Pobloskie - Kathy Pobloskie is a full-time, volunteer animal welfare advocate that has grown tired of the poor leadership and faulty thinking that results in the killing of four million companion animals a year in America. She feels that the best chance for change is to educate the public about effective policies and programs that can stop the killing. She is the Co-Director and Co-Founder of Lost Dogs of America (founded in 2012). She leads groups of volunteers who provide no-cost resources to the owners of lost dogs to increase the chances of locating and being successfully reunited with their dog. LDA also provides education for dog owners on preventing the loss of their dog. The program also benefits local animal control and shelters by decreasing the number of “owned strays” entering the animal control/shelter system and increasing the chances of finding an owner once the dog is in their care.
- Tom Arnold - Tom Arnold left Microsoft to start PetHub.com in early 2010. “I wanted to combine my passion for 20 years of software development with my love of animals and know that I’m making a difference in my lifetime,” he said when asked why he left the software giant. After his cat went missing in 2009 (re-united two days later), Tom learned that once an animal goes missing, less than 2% of cats and 18% of dogs ever get back to their families (source: ASPCA). In just two years, PetHub.com had returned over 400 companion animals with 96.8% of them home in under 24-hours, and 35% home in under 4-hours. “Many pet owners didn’t know their pets were missing yet when they received PetHub’s phone call or ‘Found Pet’ alert. Now I know I’m making a difference in animals’ and families’ lives.” Tom lives in Seattle, Washington, with his 5-year old rescue dog ("Ullr") and his two cats ("Taz" and "Houdini").
(original air date: October 29, 2016)
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