![Pet detective Anne-Marie Curry found Astro for its relieved owners. Photo supplied Pet detective Anne-Marie Curry found Astro for its relieved owners. Photo supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/180157781/1ac010fe-72c4-431f-a603-56abb7743916.jpeg/r0_235_720_728_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Anne-Marie Curry's experience of losing pets, and realising there was no formal comprehensive service to assist, led her to establish a pet detective agency.
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As a young girl she had a "lost and never-found dog" and later in life lost a cat when a tradesman left open a bathroom window.
"Police won't investigate a missing or stolen animal unless there is categoric evidence of a crime," Ms Curry said.
She started Arthur & Co. in 2017, with her dachshund Arthur as the mascot.
Based in Sydney, it operates Australia-wide with agents in most states and territories.
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![The vast majority of stolen or missing pets are dogs and cats like Tara (above with Anne-Marie Curry) but Arthur & Co. has also been asked to find a goat, horses, a python and ferrets. Picture supplied. The vast majority of stolen or missing pets are dogs and cats like Tara (above with Anne-Marie Curry) but Arthur & Co. has also been asked to find a goat, horses, a python and ferrets. Picture supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/180157781/c5a79661-fc17-4666-b6eb-b7111c3b2ce3.jpeg/r0_257_2772_1839_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Striving for closure
Ms Curry has handled some very disturbing cases over the years - inside jobs, even murder - but the goal was always to discover what happened to the animal.
"The most important thing is to strive for closure," she said.
"No matter how disturbing it is for us, it is a million times more for the owners who don't know if their pet is dead or has been sold on to breed.
"Closure is important so that owners aren't forever chasing bogus sightings and can move into grief instead of always wondering," Ms Curry said.
![Anne-Marie Curry's pet detective agency has an 80 per cent success rate of getting to the bottom of what has happened to her clients' lost or stolen pet. Picture supplied Anne-Marie Curry's pet detective agency has an 80 per cent success rate of getting to the bottom of what has happened to her clients' lost or stolen pet. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/180157781/cdaf26f8-5d97-4356-8d82-24cade36f791.jpeg/r0_19_960_595_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Sophisticated methods
Ms Curry often used social media ads, which enable her to set demographic and area targets such as people living, working or travelling through a 2km radius of where the animal went missing, where it has been sighted, or where it's possibly being held.
"That is very effective unless we are working covertly when we know the animal has been stolen and are trying to find who has it and where it is," she said.
She ranks sightings by credibility such as if there were photos or video footage.
Time is of the essence because "humans can make terrible witnesses" and may move out of the area, forget details or their memory is influenced by what they heard or read.
![Anne-Marie Curry said it is not 'finders, keepers'. People are required to do a number of things when they come across a stray animal and must do so as soon as possible. Picture supplied. Anne-Marie Curry said it is not 'finders, keepers'. People are required to do a number of things when they come across a stray animal and must do so as soon as possible. Picture supplied.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/180157781/b71cd77b-cca9-4e73-84d3-655d7bfe179f.jpeg/r42_343_481_748_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Skills, experience and know-how
Ms Curry has developed a very good instinct about when "something doesn't feel right".
"I know when I am not being told something or this piece of the puzzle is missing. That is a big part of our 80 per cent success rate.
"No stone is unturned. I continue to ask questions until I can put the puzzle together."
Just like lawyers in court Ms Curry said she was skilled in knowing what triggers to pull, what information to release and when, and what to withhold.
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