About us

Pet Detectives North East was founded to restore trust, transparency, and lawful practice in animal rescue and rehoming across the North East of England. We act as a bridge between pet owners, veterinary practices, shelters, and welfare agencies, ensuring that every microchipped animal can be traced, verified, and returned to its rightful home.

Our network operates within a 30-mile radius of each registration, combining verified chip data with real-time community alerts and direct liaison with local partners, official & unofficial

Services

  • Microchip Registration & Verification

  • Missing Pet Alerts (30-mile radius from home network)

  • Data Updates & Ownership Transfers

  • Welfare Liaison with Veterinary Practices

  • Restricted-Record Investigations

Each service is handled with discretion and lawful transparency, ensuring animals are protected and accountability is restored.

Contact

For all correspondence and case updates, please contact us by email only. We do not accept telephone calls regarding missing animals. This policy preserves the calm, steady resonance essential to effective trace work, particularly in the case of feline disappearances, where emotional agitation can disrupt both communication and the recovery process.

All messages are read and triaged carefully. You will receive a reply or case update once your message has been reviewed.

Pet Detectives North East operates as a welfare intermediary under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Pet Detectives North East a charity?
We operate as a welfare network and investigative agency, not a registered charity. Our work focuses on lawful tracing, reunification, and audit-trail preservation.

Do you charge for registration?
A small fee of £4.70 per pet covers data processing, verification, and access to the alert system.

How long does registration verification take?
Every new or transferred registration undergoes a verification process to confirm ownership, chip number, and regional location. Verification usually completes within 72 hours of submission. During this period, your file remains in pending status and no alert activity will occur until confirmation is complete. Once verified, you will receive a confirmation email containing your official Pet Detectives North East record reference.


What happens if I move or my contact details change?
Simply update your file using the Update Registration form. Your pet’s record remains valid within the 30-mile alert range.


Who can access my data?
No-one. Pet Detectives North East retains all owner and keeper information in secure, confidential storage. No personal or contact details are ever released to third parties. When a trace or alert is issued, we circulate only a restricted pet record, containing identification details such as microchip number, species, description, and photograph, to authorised veterinary practices, welfare partners, or rehoming centres for verification purposes.

We act solely as the intermediary between owner and agency, ensuring lawful handling of all information under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR. Pet Detectives North East retains all owner and keeper information in secure, confidential storage.

When a trace or alert is issued, we circulate only a restricted pet record, containing identification details such as microchip number, species, description, and photograph, to authorised veterinary practices, welfare partners, or rehoming centres for verification purposes. We act solely as the intermediary between owner and agency, ensuring lawful handling of all information under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.

What if my animal is not microchipped?
Our trace and alert system can only include animals with a verified microchip number. Without a microchip, ownership and identification cannot be legally confirmed, so we are unable to accept the record or activate a 30-mile alert.

If your pet is unchipped, please arrange implantation with your veterinary practice. Once the chip is fitted and registered, you may submit the standard Pet Detectives North East registration form to bring your animal into the lawful trace network.

We also provide a free downloadable “Unchipped Missing Animal Protocol”, outlining what immediate steps to take if an unchipped pet goes missing and how to prepare for full registration once identification is in place.

What to do if your pet goes missing

  1. Stay calm and act quickly.
    Confirm your chip number and Pet Detective file details.

  2. Submit a Missing Pet Report through our online form.

  3. Await confirmation that your 30-mile alert grid is activated.
    Our system will automatically notify registered partners, volunteers, and rescues.

  4. Check sheds, garages, and quiet areas in your neighbourhood, most animals return within 24–48 hours when conditions are calm.

Our Response To Your Pet Disappearing

When a disappearance is reported through our system, we immediately begin the lawful trace process:

  1. Verify registration and ownership.
    We manually confirm that the chip number and registration data match your submitted record.

  2. Activate the 30-mile alert grid.
    Our network of veterinary practices, welfare partners, and volunteer observers is notified within your registered radius.

  3. Issue restricted data to partner centres.
    A non-contact identification record (chip number, description, photograph, and unique markings) is sent to both regulated and unregulated rehoming centres. This ensures that no animal matching your pet’s description can be lawfully traded or adopted until identity is confirmed.

  4. Monitor welfare channels.
    We liaise discreetly with local authorities, rescues, and veterinary bodies to locate any animal matching the restricted profile.

  5. Notify you of confirmed sightings or recoveries.
    You will receive immediate email updates of any verified lead. Once a positive identification is made, reunification takes place directly between you and the authorised party.

  6. Record and archive the case.
    Every alert is archived for audit and training purposes to strengthen future prevention and recovery.


Our objective is simple: to protect ownership rights, prevent unlawful trade, and return each animal safely home without the need for public confrontation.

Pricing

Pet Detectives North East operates as a welfare and trace network, not a commercial enterprise.

A small administrative fee helps us maintain lawful data handling, verification, and alert delivery within the 30-mile network.

  • £4.70 Standard registration (active pets)

  • £10.00 Retrospective or emergency registration (pet already missing)

  • Free Transfers to family members and file updates

Retrospective cases require additional verification and activation work, as we may be acting without prior knowledge of the pet or its ownership. This fee ensures the lawful trace process begins immediately and fairly for all parties involved.

All fees contribute directly to maintaining data security, communication systems, and welfare liaison channels.

© 2025 Pet Detectives North East
A non-profit wing of the Divine Watch