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Finding a lost pet...on the Internet?

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We can’t think of much that would make us feel worse than having a beloved pet go missing. And we can’t imagine how helpless a pet owner must feel when all they can do is hang posters on telephone poles, call the local animal shelters and hope for the best.

Luckily, a website called FindToto has emerged to make things a little easier for owners searching for missing pets.

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When a pet is lost, owners can log into FindToto and fill out an online form with a description of the animal (the more detailed, the better, says the site’s FAQ section). FindToto then makes automated calls to phone numbers in the area where the pet was lost (anywhere from 500 to 5,000 numbers in an approximately one-mile radius can be called, depending on the city population and how much the owner is willing to spend on the service). The automated call sounds something like this.

Baltimore’s WBAL television network reports:

Website founder Dustin Sterlino said he guarantees that 85% of the calls will go through to a live person or an answering machine. ‘The bulk of the calls go out within 15 minutes of when the alert is sent,’ he said. Sterlino credited the national service with finding 800 lost pets this year. ‘Just the other week we had a kangaroo! We’ve had birds, we’ve had a goat, we’ve had a tortoise. So, we don’t discriminate here at findtoto.com. If you lose your pet, we want to help you get it home,’ he said.

FindToto’s pricing ranges from $125 (for 500 local calls) to $445 (5,000 local calls).

--Lindsay Barnett

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