My name is Steve, I am an amateur photographer and an A2 CofC qualified drone pilot based in North Wales. I offer my services on a voluntary basis to help search for lost dogs, working alongside other national and local groups who offer advice and co-ordinate ground searches to try and reunite owners with their missing dogs - all at no cost to the owners.
I have the use of two drones, both very capable for visual searches, but they do not have thermal imaging capability.
Dogs can go missing due to lots of reasons, but quite often they will have been frightened by something - this will often lead to the dog going in to survival mode. When in survival mode, the dog will likely not respond as the owner might expect - even a well trained dog may not respond to the owner calling its name for example.
Priority for the dog will be to survive, avoid predators, find shelter, water and hopefully food. Once they find these, they will often stay where they are, but their hiding place may make them very difficult to find.
Drones are perfect for searching large areas quickly, especially areas that are difficult to reach - they also offer the advantage of causing minimal disturbance to a dog in hiding - this reduces the chances of the dog bolting, and allows time to co-ordinate a plan to recapture.
The limitation of a visual drone, is that dogs will often hide in hedgerows, or due to their size/colour may be difficult to visually acquire from above. This is where the thermal imaging capabilities of a drone really come into their own - being able to look for heat sources greatly enhances the search capabilities.
Look at the image below, on the left is the thermal image, and on the right the visual image - this small white dot turned out to be the dog that was being searched for - as you can see, the heat source is much easier to spot, especially when the drone is moving. Also, the thermal capability enables searches to be carried out when the lighting conditions are reduced.
I have been out on numerous searches, and meeting with distraught owners desperate to get their dogs back is always heart breaking, and I would really like to offer them the best search capability I can.
Unfortunately, this technology does not come cheap, hence the reason for this crowdfunding appeal. As mentioned previously, this is a voluntary service I offer - there is never any charge to the owner, and whilst the drone will primarily be used to search for lost dogs, I would also happily assist in any search where the thermal capabilities would be useful.
