ORLANDO, Fla. – If you ever worried about your pet running off, there's now a device that will let you track your dog or cat from your cell phone.
Local 6 anchor Eryka Washington put the Tagg pet tracker GPS device to the test, and it worked when she tracked her little pomeranian, Go-Go.
[Web Extra: Link to Tagg pet tracker]
As Eryka walked her dog around outside, their location was tracked by an icon while a Local 6 producer, using the Tagg app on an iPad, was able to follow where they went.
About 10 million pets get lost each year, so a pet tracker GPS that sticks to the collar could help make the difference of whether your pet is found again.
The device can send text alerts when a pet leaves a safe zone outside your home and give you directions to find where the pet goes.
Pet owner Fabiano Mannino was excited to hear of the device and said he already was wondering if one existed.
"That would be perfect, because I have an iPhone," Mannino said. "That would be awesome, knowing he's safe wherever."
But while the Tagg tracker can help find a lost pet, Longwood vet Dr. Peter Rogers warned about letting your guard down.
"The hope is to prevent the wandering and the getting away ahead of time," Rogers said. "I think that's a good backup device, but in general we want to help prevent pets from getting away, getting lost and/or hit by cars and all those things that that are big concerns if we don't know what's going on with them."
Rogers suggested pet owners inject their pets with a microchip containing the owner's contact information, which can't fall off or run out of batteries. Most microchips Rogers is aware of don't come with a practical GPS device at this point, but the industry seems to be looking into offering that in the future, he said.
Rogers couldn't stress the prevention enough, especially with New Year's Eve fireworks.
"The biggest thing is the noise obviously and the commotion that fireworks bring," Rogers said. "So, I think it's important to really keep your pets inside and away from those areas."