O drone que resgata cães perdidos

Dog rescue with a drone

seeing things

thermal imaging – technique of using the heat emitted by an object to locate it

heat signatures – visual representations of the temperature of something or someone

spot – notice something that is difficult to find

the naked eye – your normal vision without using additional equipment

jumps out – is easily noticed because it’s different from other things

How many dogs have been found with the help of Erica’s drone?

Meet Chester. He’s now safely back home with his owner, but a few months ago he went missing for three nights.

Lea Williams, dog owner

I went for a walk up to a local beauty spot and Chester [was] running about – and out of nowhere, two lurchers [big dogs] appeared, attacked him. He got scared and ran off in an unfamiliar direction. I can only speak for myself, it’s like losing a family member, I would say. My daughter – she didn’t sleep for three days. She just thought her pet was gone.

The family had almost lost hope until Erica decided to offer her services. She uses a drone, worth almost 7,000 pounds, to help find lost dogs by using thermal imaging technology.

Jacob Tomlinson, BBC reporter

The drone is equipped with a hi-tech thermal imaging camera which can detect heat signatures from up to 250 feet [76 metres] in the air. Therefore, when Erica is asked to help out in a search for a dog, she simply turns up to the dog’s last known location, sets up the drone and up it goes. Having found more than 160 dogs, it’s proved pretty successful.

And it’s easy to see why. Can you spot Chester running around these woods? To the naked eye or even a normal drone, it’s virtually impossible, but pop the thermal image up and he jumps out, allowing his owner to bring him safely back home.

Having saved hundreds of dogs, the method is clearly working. Erica doesn’t charge for her services and instead does it for the pleasure of seeing the owners reunited.

Erica Hart, drone owner

I’ve seen it first-hand what it does to people when they lose dogs, and I know how much it must hurt to them, losing that loved one. It’s like winning [the] lottery – it’s… it is absolutely priceless.

Erica’s drone has helped create countless happy endings and is sure to make many more in the future.

How many dogs have been found with the help of Erica’s drone?

More than 160.