Using GPS to Find a Lost Friend    [02-12-2011] Finding a lost pet is not easy. Having a pet run away is also very sad and heart-breaking. The conventional way of looking for a lost pet is to post up fliers and signs. Nowadays, more and more owners are starting to use GPS devices to track their pets. They are doing this so they can find their companions more easily and reduce the risk of losing them forever. A dog named Houdini has been known to find clever ways to run away and disappear. The labrador-shepherd mix currently lives in a foster home in Utah. His owner Kristi Littrell put a GPS tracking device on Houdini’s collar because they expected him to try to run away again. The device became very useful when the dog pushed an air-conditioner to jump out a window to run away. Littrell found Houdini in a field with overgrown weeds. “I would never have found him without the GPS device on his collar,” said Littrell, explaining how the weeds were the same color as the dog’s fur. “It’s great these devices are available to us now. They will undoubtedly help in a lot of cases where pets would otherwise not be found and returned home.” About half of the pets that are in animal shelters are strays or lost animals. A handset picks up the signals from the device with the GPS chip inside of it. It then tells owners where to go to find the tag. Many believe that if GPS technology is used by pet owners, then it would almost guarantee that they will find their lost dogs, cats, and other pets.     출처: 어린이 영자신문 키즈타임즈 (www.kidstimes.net)