Photo: © 2010 AP Photo/Simon Dawson
Lee Jefferies from Pet Search Australia has been on the lookout for lost pets for the last 17 years, searching for the likes of wayward dogs, cats, birds and even reptiles.
Jeffries says her detective work involves matching sightings of lost animals with recovered animals, and then consulting a database of missing pets.
"People think their animal will be returned because it's got a microchip, but that's not always true," Jeffries told the Herald Sun.
"They (microchips) were introduced for councils to monitor registrations - not for returning lost pets."
Jeffries has worked on over 26,000 cases and says cats are the most likely pet to be reported as missing.
