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He may be a stellar escape artist, but Houdini (no, not the magician, but rather a dog) is finding it more difficult to disappear thanks to the Loc8tor GPS tracking device.

Houdini was placed in a foster home by Utah’s Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, and as he was known for his escape act, was fitted with a Loc8tor device.  Although every effort was made to keep him inside, he still found a way to break free by shoving an air conditioner out a window.

Using the Loc8tor, the sanctuary’s adoption manager Kristi Littrell was able to pinpoint the location of the lab-shepherd mix to a vacant lot nearby.  She said that if it weren’t for the device, she might never have found him.  The lot was so overgrown with weeds the same color as Houdini’s coat, she likely would have passed right by without even seeing him there.

“It’s great these devices are available to help us now,” she said.  “They will undoubtedly help in a lot of cases where pets would otherwise not be found and returned home.”

The adoption agency is hoping someone wants to give Houdini a good home, and plans to send him on his way with the GPS device, assuring his safety for years to come.  It is their hope the device will keep him out of harm’s way, and out of the shelter for good.

Roughly half of the animals that end up in a shelter are either stray or lost, so the increased use of GPS devices just like the Loc8tor could be great news for the nation’s overcrowded animal shelters.  The Loc8tor device attaches to the pet’s collar in the way a name tag would, and transmits a signal picked up by a handset the owner carries to track down the missing animal.  Once you are within the 400 foot range of the tag, the transmitter is able to pick up the signal.  The Loc8tor, one of many devices targeting pets on the market, goes for $100.