Pet Detectives Sniff Out Lost Loved Ones

By Kelly Ogle, NEWS 9

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Many people's pets become treasured members of the family, and losing a pet can be heartbreaking.

Although owners can contact animal shelters, post signs offering rewards for the return of their lost loved pet, and call neighbors -  for some, it's not enough.

That's when they call on Karin TarQwyn and her Pet Detectives.

Cherokee Ballard, a former news anchor, adopted Danny the cat after his owners moved, leaving him to fend for himself.

Meet the Pet Detectives

"He was very dear to us," Ballard said. "He was kind of a cranky Siamese cat that would roll around on the ground and just be silly."

Neighbor Sally also became fond of the feline.

"She just has a special place in her heart for Danny, as we both do," Ballard said.

Sally posted signs and searched the neighborhood to no avail, so in desperation she made a phone call to TarQwyn, Pet Detective.

"Six weeks, no sighting, no leads, but we have an excellent scent article," TarQwyn said.

TarQwyn's heard the jokes that compare her to Ace Ventura, but she also knows the hurt.

"I got into this because my own dog went missing," TarQwyn said.

When she couldn't find anyone to help her find her own dog, she trained her search and rescue dogs to become pet finders.

Business is booming, as the heart wrenching calls from broken-hearted pet owners come in from all over the country.

Read the success stories of other lost dogs and their frantic owners.

TarQwyn uses hair from Danny's bed to give her star tracker Cade a scent to find.

TarQwyn, who recently turned 53-years-old, runs for blocks, many times miles behind her dogs.

She changes them out frequently to double check the trail, but tracking Danny presents a different challenge, because cats can go where dogs can't.

Watch TarQwyn and her dogs in action.

A half a mile away from home, Cade is still following Danny's scent, but a block or two later he comes to a stop and searches through some brush. Twist also comes to a halt at the brush.

Dodger didn't find any bones, but Danny's trail went cold at a stand of trees, almost a mile from home and TarQwyn said there was evidence a predator had been there.

TarQwyn can't be sure a predator got Danny, and said he might have been picked up by those trees by someone else.

Sally is still hopeful she'll see him again.

Karen TarQwyn charges $95 an hour, plus her travel expenses for an onsite search, but she also does phone consultations