Interview with Hope McClure, Certified Pet Detective
Posted on March 15, 2007
Filed Under Interviews, Cats, Dogs, Pets |
This week, we’re talking with Hope McClure, founder and proprieter of Tracking Trails, LLC - an Alabama-based, professional search and rescue company dedicated to finding lost and stolen pets.
Q: First off, Hope, a big thanks from our visitors and myself for your taking the time to come on as our debut guest interview.
A: Sure, thank you!
Q: Can you start by telling us a little about yourself - your interests, where you’re currently living, etc.?
A: I’m living in Birmingham, Alabama. We moved here in the fall so I’m still learning a lot about the area. I truly enjoy helping people recover their lost pets. It’s an incredible feeling when I either help directly with a search or am able to talk people through a pet disappearance and subsequent recovery. Those emails and phone calls are always a thrill! As far as personal interests go mine are probably similar to most people’s - getting outside in nice weather and playing with the dogs, seeing and talking to friends, reading (including staying up-to-date on pet recovery methods), traveling (which is included sometimes in my job), and of course, discovering good restaurants!
Q: Can you tell us what a typical day of work is for you, if there is such a thing?
A: You’re right, there really isn’t a “typical” day because it depends on what kind of cases I’ve received recently. For a search I’d be up early, preparing - getting together directions, Copper’s (search K9) search gear, loading up the truck and hitting the road. For a search, after arriving, I usually speak with the client for a little while about additional details of the missing pet situation, I look around the yard and neighborhood, let Copper explore a little and then we’re on our way! Another day might be filled with emails and phone calls - people will write or call and I’ll respond to their particular situation. I like beginning cases with a consultation because they are invaluable - clients need to understand exactly what’s going on and the best ways for them to react - regardless of whether it goes to search. Many pets have been recovered after a consultation.
Q: And what inspires you and your work?
A: Knowing the kind of pain I was in when Sadie went missing. I try to keep that in the forefront of the way I conduct my business. Yes it’s something I do full time, and yes it is a business, but the emotional aspects of it cannot be downplayed - these pets are people’s babies and I understand that fully. I still get chills thinking about Sadie’s 9 days gone and I have to look over and remind myself she’s here and safe!
Q: It’s clear that the loss of your dachshund, Sadie, was a real turning point in your decision to become a pet search and rescue professional. Can you tell our readers about that event and how it led you to where you are today?
A: Sure. I was visiting my sister and her family in northern Virginia for July 4th (and the birth of my neice on July 6th, which means my sister was 9 months pregnant when helping me search for Sadie - she is a real trooper!). I was holding the door open for my grandmother and so let Sadie run ahead - she did not have a history of running off (very important detail because I get calls all the time about dogs who don’t USUALLY run off). She was not wearing a collar which I figured (at the time) was okay since she is an indoor dog with limited outdoor access. The irony is that we took her collar off when she was indoors because of the clinking sound it makes - a clinking sound that would have helped enormously when she went missing! I came outside minutes later and realized she HAD run off - the fireworks or perhaps a squirrel had led her away. The next 9 days were, the only way I can describe, hell for me.
Unfortunately awareness was, and still isn’t, widespread regarding the help pet detectives provide. It took us several days to find Pawsabilitites (based out of North Carolina), a pet detective who was willing to travel to Virginia and help us. In the meantime she provided a lot of over-the-phone support. We were terribly lucky in that Sadie returned on her own after 9 days gone! To this day we’re not sure what happened or how she found her way back, I think she is my little miracle dog! I will say though, just the support of a pet detective was a HUGE help. I was able to calm down, talk to a professional and brainstorm ideas based on proven recovery methods. It was the difference between feeling helpless and that there were viable options for recovery.
From there I began to think that this might be the career for me. It combines working with people, animals, interesting recovery stories - it really is a great job!
Q: You use the help of scent tracking dogs in your everyday work. Where do these dogs come from? And how exactly do you get them “on the scent” of your client’s lost pets?
A: As of now I use one scent-tracking dog - Copper - but do hope to add another dog within a year or so. These dogs really run the gamut in terms of “breeds”. I put that in quotes because a lot of scent detection dogs I know of are not a particular breed - Copper is a Red Bone Hound/German Shepherd mix. When I heard of a dog up for adoption with this background mix I thought “Perfect! He has the hound nose and the work sensibilities of a German Shepherd.” He was actually made available to me at my training for becoming a pet detective. The most important part to having a scent-tracking dog is training. Breed is much less important. There are ways to test a dog’s aptitude, if that’s the kind of training you are going to use, but again, many dogs can work in this field. In fact, some of the best K9s for this work were adopted from shelters!
I ask clients to prepare scent articles before I show up to do the search. This can be anything from a blanket the dog or cat used to sleep on, an old collar, a chew toy - we’re just looking for the best concentration of scent for Copper to use. From there I ask that they wrap, place or roll plain gauze pads inside/around the scent article. The gauze pads are what I use to scent and re-scent Copper on the search itself.
Q: What, for you, was the most compelling and emotional rescue you’ve ever been a part of?
A: Wow. This is still difficult to talk about, but a search Copper and I went on was for a beloved black lab mix. He was clearly the apple of his owner’s eyes. We searched for almost 3 hours and I was ready to call it a pick-up (when a dog is picked up in a car and leaves little evidence for searchers other than the trail up to the car) but we decided to go into some nearby woods and do one last “scent-scan” which basically means scenting a search K9 in different areas (this is in case the scent has dissipated from the point of disappearance but is stronger in areas where the dog or cat traveled). Here we found their missing dog - shot in the stomach and left for dead in the woods. I found out later a high school student had been bragging on the bus earlier in the week about shooting a dog over the weekend. It was one of those cases where you lie in bed at night just wondering why.
Q: Do you have any advice for our readers? How can they better protect themselves to ensure their pets don’t go missing?
A: Ok, my advice is two-part. First and foremost keep collars on your pets at all times - collars with a clear phone number. A phone number is the most important part - I don’t even put my dog’s names on their tags - just my name and phone number. Even if your dog or cat is indoors 99.99% of the time - keep a collar on, it can’t hurt! Micro-chipping is also a very good idea. It has taken a while to catch on and certain states or areas are more likely to scan than others but who cares - do it anyway! Then of course keep a close eye on your pet, use leashes, particularly in busy areas - all common sense but don’t take for granted that your pet is the one who won’t go missing.
Secondly - IF your pet does go missing, call a pet detective IMMEDIATELY. This is for two reasons: number one, the newer a scent is, the better Copper (or other pet detection K9s) can follow. This does not mean give up hope if it’s been more than a day or two - just that action is key. Secondly there is a lot you as a pet owner can do to bring your pet back. I think one of the biggest mistakes pet owners make is to think a consultation isn’t worth it but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Knowing the correct actions to take and the ways to take them is vital. Pet owners often put up flyers, call shelters etc which are all good things to do - but knowing specific ways of approaching the situation really can make all the difference. Plus a consultation is cost-effective and quicker. I’ll bet if I’d begun my search for Sadie with correctly designed posters, I would’ve been able to begin tracking her with sighting phone calls. That is actually something I’m working on adding to my website - custom designed posters mailed overnight to clients. I just can’t stress how important they are.
Q: Hope McClure, thanks again for speaking with us. All our best to you, your clients, and the animals you help every day!
A: Thank you. And thank you for helping in missing pet awareness!
Hope McClure of Tracking Trails, LLC can be contact via her website at www.trackingtrails.com or via phone at 205.991.2455.
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4 Responses to “Interview with Hope McClure, Certified Pet Detective”
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well wat if u don’t have anything of your cats that is the scent how do u find them
Thanks for posting this article. I have done a piece of the career of pet detective and will be placing a link here because it will be valuable for my readers!
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Hi, I read ur article. Want to find out what can I do to find my father dog, she is been with us for 12yrs. She knows where she lives,we never had problems with her before. On Aug. 6, 2007, my father took her out on the same routine he always do. She goes out to do her stuff outside the front porch, we have a gate there so she dont come out. My father called for her but she never responded. We fill that someone open the gate so she could come out, and steal her from us, she does not go with strangers, but she is friendly, kind, but most of all she gets seizures, and the person that knows to relax her is her owner my father…
I have look everywhere for her, my father misses her so do I and we want her home safely….
Please help me find my dog her name is Cookie…