Book Reviews | Kat Albrecht: Pet Detective

Reviews for The Lost Pet Chronicles

The Lost Pet Chronicles: Adventures of A K-9 Cop Turned Pet Detective
Albrecht, Kathy
ISBN: 1-58-234379-9
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Hardcover $23.95
2004/04

In this thoroughly engaging book, Albrecht narrates, with deadpan humor and Grisham-like suspense, the story of how she came to create an entirely new career: lost pet search and rescue. As a police dispatcher and later a police officer in California, Albrecht was duty bound to give human emergencies priority over animal crises, but it wasn't until her Eeyore-like bloodhound, A.J., went missing that Albrecht saw the need for sophisticated detective and scent trail work to find pets. Going against the advice of colleagues and even friends, Albrecht trains her dogs—first Rachel, a search-and-rescue Weimeraner, and then bloodhounds Chase and A.J. (who was found)—to scent cats and other dogs in the same way they located lost hikers or on-the-lam criminals. Taking the reader on searches for everything from huskies and terriers to boa constrictors, she describes her dogs' incredible ability to detect scents and shares her own honed deductions about animal and human behavior. Sometimes the author isn't able to find the lost animal and can only return bad news to people, like the owners of Gus, a cat who runs away days after their son's death. Yet with humor and fascinating insight into search-and-rescue work, Albrecht continues to find innovative ways to help animals and the humans who love them, and inspires readers with her dramatic career changes. With an epilogue containing indispensable information on how to look for missing pets, this is a must-read for animal lovers and sleuths alike. (Apr.)

From Booklist

Yes, Virginia, there really is a pet detective. But erase from your mind those images of gangly Jim Carrey slapsticking his way through a case. This pet detective, a former police officer and crime-scene investigator, is smart, shrewd, and possessed of a deep and passionate love for animals (puppy lovers will not be able to read her first chapter without emitting a giggle or three). Of course, anyone would have to love animals to embark on a career involving lost puppies, kitties, horses, and snakes, which is what Albrecht did when she realized that she did not have much of a future with the police department. The book, which recounts several of her cases, is downright engrossing. Readers who think "pet detective" is a silly name for a profession will be impressed with the skill and dedication it takes to locate a missing animal. Animal lovers will be alternately sad, angry, nervous, and happy.