Missing Pet Owners Beware

WEST HOLLYWOOD -- Willa Bella fetched, sat and played like a dog. When the little black cat was born, her first weeks were spent sleeping on a big dog's belly. She was a rescue cat, and over the last few years became a big part of Delores Hively's life.

"She was my little friend, just the sweetest thing," Hively said. But in September Willa Bella's wild side led her out the door, and she hasn't been seen since. Delores posted fliers around her neighborhood and put an ad on Craig's List. From the Craig's List ad, she was contacted by a couple of different companies that said they could help her find her cat.

One was Amber Pet Alert, which has the amberpetalert.com web site. She says she was told for $49.95 that they would send fliers with Willa Bella's picture to veterinarian offices, animal shelters, pet stores and other organizations within a 50 mile radius of her home.

Delores signed up, but soon grew suspicious when she didn't see the fliers at local vet offices or pet stores.

She says she e-mailed the company to complain. She told them she hadn't seen the flier anywhere, including the local vet's office right down the street - which she says she mentioned by name.

When she tried calling the company to get an explanation, she says it only added to her frustration. She says she could never get a live person on the phone and nobody ever returned her calls.

It made her wonder: If she couldn't get anyone from the company to call her back, what were the chances that someone who found her cat and called the 888 number on the flier would get a response?

We also looked for the fliers. We checked with more than a half dozen pet stores, vets and other animal organizations in the area, including the local Humane Society and the Los Angeles County animal shelter that covers West Hollywood. None of the organizations had ever heard of Amber Pet Alert or recalled ever receiving any fliers - except for one. The local vet's office right down the street - the one Delores said she mentioned in that complaint e-mail to the company - did end up receiving a flier about Willa Bella.

So giving Amber Pet Alert one last chance to prove its worth, we put the company to the test.

We called the 888 number on the Willa Bella flier. We never got a live person to answer the phone. So - over about a three week period - we left two different messages saying we saw the flier and might have information about the lost cat. Nobody from the company ever called back.

We then stopped by the address the company lists as its west coast office on Santa Monica Boulevard - the place it supposedly mails all those fliers out from. Amber Pet Alert wasn't there. Instead, it's a company that offers virtual mail boxes. You set up a mail box over the internet, and all your mail is scanned so that you can check all your mail online without ever setting foot in the place.

I then e-mailed and called the company and identified myself as a reporter who was working on a story about Amber Pet Alert. That time, I got a call back almost immediately.

A man who identified himself as Mark Jakubczak told me he was the owner of the company, and that he would have to check with his west coast call center to find out why our calls about the lost pet flier were never returned. He said the call center was located at that same address on Santa Monica Boulevard that we had visited earlier. When I informed him that the assistant manager at the virtual mail box company at that address said he had never heard of Amber Pet Alert, he changed his story. He acknowledged that the Santa Monica Boulevard address was just a mail box service he uses. He said his call center people are in the area, but they use mobile phones.

We also brought up a claim on the AmberPetAlert.com web site. Under the heading "How do I know this is not a 'scam'?", the company points out that it is accredited with the Better Business Bureau. Problem is, the BBB says that's not true. The owner didn't dispute what the BBB told us, and didn't have an explanation for the claim.

We also asked him to provide evidence of the claim that the company has a "75%" success rate in finding lost pets. We're still waiting.

As for Delores Hively's case, Amber Pet Alert's owner sent us an e-mail saying it was Delores' fault that an alert was never sent out. He says she never responded to an e-mail asking to confirm the contents of the flier. Delores countered by sending us a copy of a confirmation e-mail she received from Amber Pet Alert after her payment was processed that starts: "Delores, your amber alert about Willa Bella has been processed within a 50 mile radius..."

Amber Pet Alert did offer to give Delores her money back.

As for Willa Bella, Delores still hasn't found her. If you think have information about Willa Bella, you can contact Delores directly at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .