It was quite the holiday season for Laguna, a furry feline who lives in Westlake Village. She’s safe and sound with her owner, Michelle Lopez now. But, she caused quite the scare when she disappeared.
There was a frantic, 13 hour search which included the house roof, and a tree in the front year. But, Laguna was equipped with a tiny little Bluetooth transmitter on her collar. Even though they searched the bedroom multiple times and couldn’t find her, the tracking system showed she was there, somewhere.
Finally, Lopez had an idea. She looked in a dresser drawer. The cat had climbed into the drawer, and the weght of the drawer closed it. The Bluetooth tracking system worked.
It’s the unique creation of a Ventura County company called “Huan”, which was founded by a man who almost lost his pet dog. Gil Rom had taken the dog on a trip. He left the dog in a rental home while he went to dinner, but someone let it out. Fortunately, he found the dog sitting next to his car. But, he started thinking about possible ways of tracking missing pets.
He realized GPS trackers would be too heavy for pet collars, and too expensive for owners. Rom’s solution was lightweight, cheap Bluetooth transmitters, which would tie into the cell phones everyone uses these days.
He created a company called Huan. The Oak Park based company is now two years old, and has been taking off.
Michelle Lopez of Westlake Village is a believer, after the unique tracker pointed her towards a bedroom, and she finally checked the dress drawers for her missing cat Laguna.
Did the cat learn a lesson about climbing into a dresser drawer for a nap? Lopez says unfortunately, no, but her family did. They learned not to leave closet and dresser drawers open.
Link to Huan: www.gethuan.com
