Keep better track of your dog with your mobile

The worst nightmare for all dog owners would be to lose their darling pet. However, Sweden’s 700,000 dog owners can soon keep better track of their doggy with the help of their mobile phone and a GPS receiver that is attached to the dog’s collar. If an SMS message is sent to the GPS unit, it replies by sending an SMS or MMS message with text or a map image indicating where the dog is located.

Every year approximately 15,000 dogs disappear now and then from their owners and many have wished for a simple way to find their runaway pet. The companies Petlink Development and M-Tech have therefore developed a GPS receiver for dogs, which owners can use to find their pet using GPS navigation and mobile communications.

Petlink has chosen to use a Telia subscription in the GPS unit in order to have the best possible mobile coverage. The subscription costs SEK 79 per month and can be connected to all models of mobile phones, regardless of the type of subscription. In mid-May, the product will have its world premier and will be available for purchase in around 40 pet stores in Sweden.

“Being able to use GPS navigation to find your runaway dog is just one of many examples of how a mobile phone can make everyday life a little easier,” says Stefan Trampus, head of enterprise sales for Mobility Services at TeliaSonera Sweden.

Swedish dog owners will be the first to search and find their pets with Petlink’s GPS service. The same service will be launched in Norway and Denmark this autumn.

How the service works:
The GSP receiver contains a SIM card which is registered with Petlink and can be located using GSP navigation over the mobile network. The dog owner searches for his dog by sending an ordinary SMS message from his mobile to the dog’s GPS receiver. The receiver responds by sending information about the dog’s location either as a map image or text message. A dog owner can also decide how far the dog may be allowed to run freely, and when the dog has exceeded the set limit, the dog owner will receive an alarm on his mobile phone. Five mobile numbers can be connected to the dog’s GPS receiver. The mobile subscription used in the GPS receiver is Telia Telematik, which is used for mobile data and can be blocked for mobile phone calls. Traffic costs are billed in addition to the monthly subscription rate.