Liu Wei, Pet Detective

In large modern cities across China, cats and dogs have been an indispensable part of many families. These "furry rascals" are pampered by their owners.

Still, some of these "furry rascals" go missing often, and their owners will spare no effort to get them back. This special demand gives birth to a new profession: pet detective. With keen eyes and a sharp mind, these experts help families retrieve their missing pets.

Liu Wei, 33, one of the first group of pet detectives in China, is quite famous in the new business.

Before becoming a pet detective, Liu built an information classification website, ran a bistro and even ventured into the education business. He's always passionate about new things.

In 2012, he read an article about pet detectives by chance. An enthusiast of cats and dogs, not to mention detective fiction, Liu found the profession fascinating and has dedicated himself to it ever since.

Over the past nine years, he has traveled to more than 20 cities in attempts to find around 3,000 missing pets. He succeeded in retrieving more than 1,000 of them, including birds, lizards, hamsters, and other small animals, in addition to cats and dogs.

In the early days of his pet detective career, he published posts on social media platforms like Baidu Tieba and Weibo about his services, but his business was growing slowly. On average, he got five or six requests per month—that is merely a few dozens for a year.

In 2018, a year that saw the rise of short-video platforms, Liu created an account on Douyin, TikTok’s sister app in China, where he uploads videos about discovering missing pets. As he gains recognition, more and more pet owners send requests to him for finding their missing pets. His team has expanded to 15 members.

"Now we have about 30 orders every month. At its peak, we received more than 40 requests a month." Liu told TMTPost that the requests were mostly about missing dogs before, but it's about half and half now. This shows the rise of cat ownership.

While recovering missing pets, Liu's team is also dedicated to rescuing stray cats and dogs. "We barely make any profit. So long as we manage to get by," Liu told TMTPost.

After spending such a long time in this line of work, what makes him feel grateful is that more and more people are recognizing the value of pet detectives. "In fact, the missing animals we are requested to find are not just pets, they are families." That summarizes his understanding of this profession.

Below is a spoken account given by Liu, edited by TMTPost editors for clarity and brevity：

Being a Pet Detective Takes Real Skills

In 2012, I read an article about pet detectives in foreign countries by chance. As a lover of cats and dogs and a fan of detective fiction, I decided to give it a try. At that time, such a profession did not exist in China. It is unprecedented in many aspects. And I had to build up experiences little by little.

As a pet detective, I cannot afford any regular schedules. I must go all out from the moment I accept a request. Walking 30,000 steps a day is an absolute minimum. Sometimes you walk 70,000 or even 80,000 steps a day. This job requires a hardworking spirit.

And I think that finding missing pets takes real skills.

When it is a lost cat, you need to ascertain its breed and habitual nature, figure out whether it jumps off the building or via the elevator, inspect the structure of the owner's house, and more. A missing cat tends to hide under a car, in the bushes or dark places like a storeroom. It rarely meows unless called by its owner or startled by something. This makes finding it very hard.

Cats' nature of hiding determines that an infrared thermal camera is often used in finding a missing cat. If the cat hides in a cave, you will also need tools such as pipe inspection systems and remote control cars with a camera. Sometimes we bring the owner along to call their cat with a loudspeaker. This can help us locate the missing cat.

Liu Wei looking for a missing pet

The same goes for the searching of dogs. You must first learn about various breeds and their characteristics. Small dogs like Toy Poodles and Pomeranians can be easily taken away by anyone, whereas breeds like rural dogs do not go missing that easily. Out of all missing dogs, 80% are taken away by people. The rest end up in accidents, becoming stray dogs, or getting abducted by dog traffickers.

Different dog breeds exhibit a difference in how hard they can be recovered. Most Shibas become stray dogs after they go missing. Dogs that don't shy from people are relatively easier to be retrieved. When looking for a missing dog, an infrared thermal camera is also often used to uncover its trail in the grass or a park.

In most cases, it would be even more difficult to find a missing animal when it was taken away by someone to their home. This is something we must explain clearly to the client when we receive a request.

Before searching on-site, we quote an approximate price for the request based on the distance. Our team is based in Shanghai. Assuming the target location is in Beijing and we are sending three persons, the round trip fares would be almost RMB 3,000. The upfront payment would be around RMB 4,000 when expenses like accommodation are included. After finding the missing pet, the total cost would be about 8,000 to 9,000 yuan.

There may be complications during the process. When we are on the way, for instance, the missing animal is found or the client gives up looking for their pet. Either way, we need to cover the costs. A few days ago, we went to a northeastern province to help a client look for their missing cat. Right before our arrival, we were informed that the cat had been found. Situations like this are why upfront payments are requisite for us to set out.

In fact, as a 15-member team, we barely make any profit when you deduct the salaries, traveling expenses, etc., not to mention rescuing stray cats and dogs. Still, everyone finds pleasure in it.

The missing animals we are requested to find are not just pets, they are families

Among the 1,000 successful hunts for missing pets, the most unforgettable one is a dog named Xiaomi that I spent 45 days finding. Xiaomi's owners are a middle-aged couple from Hefei, Anhui. One day, the couple brought their two dogs to visit a friend. On the drive home after dinner, they got involved in a car accident on the highway. One of the dogs died. The couple had their ribs fractured.

Ignoring her own injury, the wife got off the car to perform CPR on the dead dog. Much to her surprise, the other dog, Xiaomi ran away through the broken car window, terrified by the thought that its friend was being murdered.

After searching on their own for two days in vain, the couple sought our assistance. We located it before long. However, in great shock and trauma, Xiaomi fled instantly whenever someone approached as far as 5 meters, even if it was one of its owners.

Where Xiaomi hid was of a complicated terrain—there were factories and hills. Our team spotted it seven or eight times, but never succeeded in getting hold of it. The wife missed her pet so much that she regularly placed food nearby to ensure that Xiaomi did not starve.

Having witnessed all this, I could strongly feel how deeply the lady loved her pet—her joy when we located Xiaomi, her disappointment when Xiaomi kept running away, and her despair when she eventually gave up. It was of many regrets that Xiaomi could not understand its owner's feelings.

The happiest moment for Liu Wei is when he recovers a missing pet

Losing a pet is a very saddening experience. That's why I always advise my clients to buy a pet tracker or use a leash. At least put dog tags on your dogs with a phone number—this can increase the chance of recovering your pet.

I say this repeatedly. The missing animals we are requested to find are not just pets, they are families. And this is the greatest value of pet detectives.

I think this industry requires more regulations and guidelines. The prevalence of the internet helps draw attention and new blood to this industry. Meanwhile, it also breeds various issues.

Some pet detectives couldn't even tell cat and dog breeds apart, but they told clients that they have seven or eight years' experience. The methods they applied to find missing animals were limited to wandering about the neighborhood, shining a flashlight, and posting a search notice. Such conduct can make pet owners feel that the pet detective industry is overflowing with swindlers. Consequently, this will hinder the orderly development of our industry.

I would also like to take this opportunity to share my experience with all the young fellow pet detectives.

Most importantly, being a pet detective requires a sense of responsibility and compassion. Only lovers of cats and dogs can see this as a sacred profession. Second, a sharp mind and keen eyes are vital. In many cases, you need to find easily-overlooked clues from surveillance footage. Third, professional equipment such as infrared thermal imaging systems, hunting cameras, life-detecting radars, etc. is significantly helpful.

Professional equipment is essential in recovering missing pets

Being a pet detective requires a strong mentality. During my career, I have seen many clients vanish right after we retrieved their missing pets, with the second half of the expenses unpaid. Some clients refused to pay when we found their pets killed in an accident. We have to cover the costs ourselves. Dishonest clients like these left us in dire straits.

In 2018, I created an account on TikTok to share my pet detective experience, in an attempt to draw more attention to this industry. Our team has been learning how to shoot and edit videos. It is never too late to learn.

Liu Wei's short video. Source: @TikTok

On top of the current services, recently, our team has been planning to explore projects like pet guesthouses and pet training. The future of the industry looks bright to me.

(The article is translated and edited with authorization from the author @柳牧宗, please note source and hyperlink when reproduce. The original article can be found here.)