Kat Albrecht

is a police detective-turned-pet detective and the founder of Missing Pet Partnership, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to reuniting lost pets with their families. Missing Pet Partnership has formed the first-ever lost pet search-and-rescue team (in Seattle, WA) and hopes to develop similar teams nationwide.

Kat pioneered the cross application of law enforcement investigative techniques and technologies to solve lost pet investigations and is widely known as an authority on training search dogs to track lost pets. Since 1997, she has trained the majority of all operational pet detectives in the USA, Canada, and even Ireland.

Kat and her search dogs have appeared on Animal Planet programs and articles about her work have appeared in People, Reader’s Digest, and Parade. Kat is the author of two books: The Lost Pet Chronicles and Dog Detectives: Train Your Dog to Find Lost Pets. She is currently crafting Bloodhound Love, a romance/mystery novel for teens.

www.KatAlbrecht.com

Read Kat’s Profile on the next page …

Kat Albrecht Enterprises, www.katalbrecht.com. I’m a police detective-turned-pet detective, published author, inspirational speaker, mystery writer, and founder of Missing Pet Partnership (www.missingpetpartnership.org), a national nonprofit organization that trains volunteer pet detectives and search dogs to find lost pets.

What do you consider to be your strong points?

First and foremost, that I seek God first and His will for my life; second, I am a total risk taker and I am not afraid to pioneer and invent; I have made many sacrifices in order to follow my dream (which back in 1998 a friend told me was a “pipe dream”); I am not afraid to fail because I have become quite good at it (I believe we need to teach teens how to fail…because they will and not just how to succeed!); I’ve learned the art of changing directions whenever I’ve run into a wall or closed door – my family and friends say they’re amazed that I’ve stuck with my dream for over 13 years and that I’ve refused to give up; I am tenacious and I refuse to give up; I believe in the principle of tithing.

What do you consider to be your weaknesses?

My biggest weakness is that I am a “math phobic” and I have a fear of hiring a staff and of being an employer; however, I am currently working with a business coach who is helping me to work through those issues.

What inspired you to start your own business?

In 1981 (when I was 21) I heard a biologist talk about how he had a passion for sharks and he couldn’t believe that he was “paid for his passion.” At that time I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher who HATED my job. I knew my passion was law enforcement and animals, but it took an additional 10 years until I stumbled across the idea that I could combine my PASSION for dogs and my PASSION for law enforcement by becoming a Police Bloodhound Handler. I stumbled on this idea after reading a book about police bloodhounds and when I was done with the book, I told myself, “I’m going to go through the police academy, get a bloodhound and train it to track people, become a Police Bloodhound Handler, and be PAID FOR MY PASSION.” The fact that I actually believed that I could do those things, not to mention that I was actually successful in DOING those things is such a testimony that I hope will encourage teens. I became a police officer in 1991 and transition from police work into pet detective work (and owning my own business) happened in 1996. My police bloodhound A.J. escaped and was lost in the woods. I used another search dog to track his scent and find my missing police dog and that gave me the idea, “I know how to train dogs to find lost PEOPLE…WHY aren’t we training dogs to find lost PETS?” That idea sparked a paradigm shift and has taken me on an incredible journey over the past 13 years! I’ve been called the pioneer of the pet detective industry because I incorporated not just the use of search dogs to track and detect lost pets, but also the application of other law enforcement-based techniques and technologies like search probability theory, deductive reasoning, behavioral profiling, evidence collection, and other scientific-based applications towards finding lost pets.

How did you decide what product or service to sell?

In 1998, I was under consideration for a reality pet detective series for Animal Planet when a friend of mine introduced me to a movie producer who said that he wanted to pitch my story as a feature film for Columbia Pictures. He said the first step would be to partner me with a ghost writer to write my autobiography. Although that collaboration fell through, I decided to just write the book myself so I attended writer’s conferences, spent five years working on my book and struggling to become published. It was only after I read Psalm 127:1 that I realized I needed to stop striving and I asked God to get my book published. Three months later, a literary agent CALLED ME (which trust me, isn’t supposed to happen) and asked me to send him my manuscript. Long story short, “The Lost Pet Chronicles” was published in 2004 and although it did not sell well, it received fantastic reviews and is the foundation for the books that I am working on today.

What were your economic goals when you started your business? How long did it take for you to reach those goals?

To pay my bills and tithe every month, something which I’ve been able to do that since 2001.

Other than money, what were you looking to get out of your business?

To bring glory and honor to God.

Did you ever have a feeling of desperation or insecurity when launching your business? How did you overcome those feelings?

I am the poster child for business failure! My first business was Pet Pursuit. It was my side business and I dissolved it within a year. I then started the National Center for Missing Pets, a nonprofit organization that failed within a year. My next attempt was a second business that was called Pet Hunters and I dissolved it within six months due to a lack of revenue. I took a job (working to rescue animals in disasters) and moved to Los Angeles, but lost that job after 6 months due to budget cuts. My third business was Pet Hunters International which was the first-ever pet detective academy which I ran for two years but then donated it as a training program for Missing Pet Partnership, the nonprofit organization that I currently manage. My current business Kat Albrecht Enterprises is the business (sole proprietorship) that I run for my speaking, writing, and consultation services. Don’t fear failure! Learn from your mistakes and move on, knowing that God uses difficulties to humble us, teach us, and refine us.

How do you use your business to share your faith?

Through my writing and conference speaking, I encourage Christian teens to surrender their wills (and stubborn hearts) and commit to serving God. I tell them that if they think, “God could never use me” that they need to think again. In business and in life, God uses hardships and difficulties to break down our pride and to humble us to the point where we say, “God I can’t do this – I need you!” I want to encourage teens to strive to live a life on the edge, following God’s will even it means you’ll slap a “PET DETECTIVE” sign on your car door and have people laugh at you. Lane Frost, a champion bull rider (featured in the movie Eight Seconds) once said, “Don’t be afraid to go after what you want to do, and be what you want to be; but don’t be afraid to be willing to pay the cost.” Lane was ultimately killed by a bull, doing what he loved to do. He was the inspiration for my putting on a bullet proof vest and going out to serve the public, making life and death decisions, all the while knowing that this was God’s will and that even if I was killed in the line of doing, I was willing to pay that cost.