Your Questions, Answered

  • The lost pet drone recovery service includes a $425 response fee (up to 2 hours of flight time) and a $100 recovery fee if the pet is successfully located via drone. Locations further than 25 miles from us will be charged a $2.50 per mile fee one-way.

  • A licensed drone pilot responds to your home or location typically at night. The pilot uses a thermal drone to search the area and locates every animal. The drone has an extremely bright spotlight and when an animal is located, the pilot will switch to the zoom camera and identify if the animal is your lost pet. There are many videos on the Florida Pet Recovery YouTube channel for you to watch and see how it works.

  • As of April, 2026, Florida Pet Recovery has conducted 380 lost pet searches with the drone. They have successfully located 212 of those lost pets. Statistics are skewed because not all pets we search for are there for us to find. Many lost pets that we did not locate, were ultimately located within a few days with someone who had them in their possession the entire time. If the pet is on the loose in the area where we are searching with the drone and visible to the sky, we will locate the pet.

  • The drone is capable of flying many miles away however, the area needs to be thoroughly searched. Typically by the end of the 2 hour search, approximately 1 mile radius around the location is searched.

  • The drone can only see what is visible to the drone. It cannot see through solid objects like structures, vehicles or extremely dense brush.

  • The drone differentiates temperatures. It doesn't only see hot objects. Yes the drone can locate the animal even if it's passed away as long as it is visible to the drone. We have located a handful of lost dogs we were searching for passed away due to being struck by vehicles.

  • The reason Florida Pet Recovery is so successful at finding lost pets is because they use a thermal drone and search the area from above. During the daytime here in Florida, the sun is shining down on everything and heating everything up. This makes it almost impossible to locate the animals using the thermal camera on the drone. This is why the service is only provided at night between 8pm-8am.

  • Once Trey calls you back, he will get you on the schedule as soon as possible. He realizes this is an emergency and works every night to save lost pets.

  • At this time, we are unable to offer discounts or payment plans.

  • The drone has a full color zoom camera. We look at the cat and easily identify if it is yours or not as long as it has some kind of identifying features.

  • There is a minimum mandatory fee of four hundred and twenty five dollars to hire our services whether your pet can be located or not. Just like when you go to a Veterinary or Doctor's office, it still cost a fee for the service. The equipment we use is extremely expensive and our time and expertise has a value.

  • Yes, our pilots hold a Part 107 Commercial Drone License issued by the FAA and are fully insured.

  • Florida Pet Recovery has a lot of experience trapping and advice/assistance may be offered. Trapping is not a part of the drone recovery service.

  • Scent tracking dogs has been proven to be an extremely overpriced and ineffective service provided by a few people here in Florida. We DO NOT provide scent tracking services and DO NOT recommend them. We have proven time after time, what they are doing and telling lost pet owners is completely inaccurate.