Photography: Anna McFerrier.
We never know which moments will reshape our future. For Tracy Austin, it was a bike accident that left her lying unconscious for an entire weekend. A temporary Jane Doe, the vulnerability the mum of two felt over that lost weekend in 1989 got her thinking about how to help others, human or animal, who couldn’t speak for themselves if they needed help.
Fast-forward to 2019 and the lifelong pet owner from Christchurch started developing a simple but brilliant idea to help solve one of those problems. Since then, her platform Doggone has reunited more than 5000 wandering pooches with their owners around New Zealand.
“Our dogs are our babies and it’s a nightmare when they go missing,” she explains.
“There’s the frantic searching, social media posts, and the hope a kind stranger will pick up the wandering dog and take it to the vet or council for identification.”
However, even having a dog microchipped is no guarantee of a happy outcome.
“Many dog owners don’t realise that unless they’ve paid to have the microchip registered on a database or with the council, it’s about as helpful as a piece of rice under their dog’s skin,” says Tracy.
A simple idea making a big difference
Her idea is simple and effective: If someone finds a lost dog with a Doggone tag attached to its collar, they simply free-text the unique code on the tag to Doggone’s dedicated number, also written on the tag. Within moments, they get a text back from the Doggone app, with a link to the owner’s chosen phone number and any information about the dog the owner wants to share.
“The app connects families safely without sharing private information, so anxious hours of worry can be reduced to seconds,” she says.
Over the years of “blood, sweat and tears” that Tracy has put into Doggone, there are some amazing stories, like little Snow, a Jack Russell terrier from Kaikōura, who was on holiday in Christchurch with his family when he bolted.
“They wouldn’t have known where to start looking, but because of Snow’s tag, he was found in minutes.”
Meet the ultimate “helicopter mum”
Tracy, 58, says the nickname “Heli”, short for “Helicopter Mum” – given to her by sons Levi, 23, and Joel, 21 ‒ also explains her desire to help.
“The boys say I’m always hovering around, making sure everybody is safe and well,” she tells.
“They even have helicopter ringtones on their phones when I call!”
However, when it comes to her boys, she has a good reason to stay close, given they’re both haemophiliacs who love dangerous pursuits.
“Levi races karts and Joel is my ‘Mr Daredevil’, who will send me videos of himself skiing off a 40-foot [12m] drop. I’ve told them they’ll have to pay my hairdressing bills when I’m older because I’m going to have so many grey hairs!”
A life shaped by love and resilience
To soften the blow when both her sons moved out of home on the same week last year, they surprised Tracy by gifting her a ragdoll kitten, also named Heli, who she says is her “substitute child”, along with her four-year-old Rottweiler Hollie. Tracy was devastated when Hollie’s big brother Riggs passed away last year.
“He was such a lovable giant – 60kg of hugging lapdog who cured anyone who was frightened of dogs,” she tells.
Tracy has also had her own major health challenges. She’s a four-time cancer “winner” and had a serious operation to remove two aneurysms on her brain when her boys were little. Yet rather than focus on the trauma she’s experienced, she prefers to turn her challenges into positives, with caring for others at the top of her list.
“If I can help dog-owning families in New Zealand, as well as my own family, that’s a win-win,” she enthuses.
Growing impact, one pet at a time
After years of self-funding the platform, Tracy was excited to receive a “life-changing” $10,000 grant from Kura Tāwhiti, the Canterbury Community Foundation, late last year, providing support to focus on expanding its reach and impact.
Four large district councils have already signed up to Doggone, providing the service free to their thousands of registered dog owners, with another couple of thousand people registering directly. Several other councils are also in advanced discussions about joining.
Missing moggies might be next, if legislation requiring cats to become registered is considered and passed. And with Doggone the only platform in the world using simple SMS technology to reunite lost pets with their owners, and protected by registered patents, could world domination be next?
“How good would that be?” Tracy smiles.
“Regardless, I’m very happy to leave my mark, and create something I know has made a lot of people’s and dogs’ lives better.”
For more info, go to doggone.co.nz.
