Who Is Kat Albrecht?
My name is Kat Albrecht-Thiessen and I’m a police detective-turned-pet detective, author, inspirational speaker, trainer, and soon-to-be compassion fatigue retreat facilitator (for those in animal industry who’re burned out!). My life story is all about trying to find my “life purpose” with a goal of being PAID FOR MY PASSION. For me, that passion was law enforcement and working with dogs. I am very much against keeping a job that makes you miserable and all about taking BIG risks to follow your dream! Here’s a post that I crafted that features the turning point when I realized that the job that I HATED (working as a 9-1-1 dispatcher) was killing me and that I needed to make a career change!
I began my fascinating yet bumpy journey into lost pet recovery work back in 1997 and I’ve just never looked back! I’m considered “the leading expert” on recovering lost dogs and cats (not my title, but given to me by others) since I began tracking lost pets back when there was NO social media and literally NO focus or attention given to the issue of lost pets! Lost pets that are not found are a major contributing factor to the “homeless” “feral” and “stray” pet populations, not to mention the overcrowding of our animal shelters and high euthanasia rates. I spent years speaking at animal welfare conferences in my efforts to raise awareness in the sheltering community that making lost pet recovery a priority is a viable method to prevent lost dogs and cats from entering shelters. Yet my “pet detective” title was poo-pooed and my critical work was dismissed and overlooked for many years. Thankfully today there is massive interest in lost pet recovery work within the animal sheltering system as well as tons of Lost & Found Facebook groups, rescue groups, and other entities.
I’m the former founder of “Missing Pet Partnership” (which was formed in 2002 and ultimately destroyed in 2017 by a rouge board member—more on that later in my memoir) and I’m the current founder / director of the Missing Animal Response Network, the first and only “pet detective academy” where I train volunteer and professional pet detectives (online), some with search dogs trained to track lost pets.
My lost pet recovery stories are often heartwarming, occasionally heartbreaking, and always educational. My writing is honest, raw, fascinating, sometimes spiritual (even supernatural), and many times pee-your-pants-funny. I’ve used my bloodhound to track down a lost MTV star (Ricky, an iguana who wore lizard clothing), had a producer ask me to fly from California to Florida to track “Skunk Ape,” the Sunshine State’s version of a very smelly Bigfoot (I said “No”), and I appeared on the TV Show To Tell The Truth. I once took a red eye flight from San Francisco to New York City (with my dog, Rachel, in cabin) for The Today Show so they could film Rachel track a snake loose in an apartment, only to have her (the dog, not me!) fart continuously during the entire nonstop flight! These are examples of the stories I will post.
I will soon start posting what I’ve discovered in my study of whether pets go to heaven when they die in my PETS IN HEAVEN posts. I have a ton of very fascinating insights and information that I’ve pulled from the Bible and other sources that will interest many. Suffice to say I am convinced that our pets WILL be in heaven to greet those of us who believe in and follow Jesus. Not everyone believes this, I understand that, but I will be sharing what I’ve learned and why I believe what I believe. These pets in heaven posts will be available for PAID subscribers since those who subscribed might not be interested in this topic.
One more thing. When I first had the idea to pursue full time pet detective work (in 1997), I was told that I was “having a pipe dream” if I thought I could make a living as a pet detective. But not only have I myself made a living in this new field, but I've trained many (if not most) of the other professional pet detectives in North America (and abroad!) who also make a full time living running behind tracking dogs trained to find lost pets.
My point is this: DON'T BE SO QUICK to dismiss a writing or project idea when some naysayer comes along and tells you that “it won't work” or “that's been over done” in their attempt to kill your passion. Believe in your idea, find your voice, and GO FOR IT!
If you are unable to sign up as a PAID subscriber, please consider tipping me through my Ko-fi account! I give as much as I can to others, but rarely receive and I have critical needs at this time. My husband Johnny is disabled and the bulk of our income is going to medical expenses this year (2024). Thank you!
