ROCKLEDGE, Fla. \u2013 For three weeks, Amy Legate has kept a door open for Axle.<\/p>\n
Each night, she leaves her patio door slightly ajar and raises the garage door just enough for her missing cat to slip inside if he finds his way home.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery morning I wake up thinking that he\u2019s gonna be back. But not yet,\u201d Legate said.<\/p>\n
Young Axle recovered from a wheel-well 5 years ago. (Amy Legate)<\/p>\n
Legate adopted Axle five years ago after finding him hiding in the wheel well of a car, a discovery that inspired his name. Over the years, the tabby became much more than a pet.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of my family is still missing,\u201d she said through tears. \u201cI just miss his personality. He was such a blessing to have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Legate searched on her own for more than a week before learning about Paws Angels, a new non-profit using thermal-imaging drones to help locate missing pets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were noticing there was a huge gap in using technology in finding lost pets,\u201d said Leslie Bottesch of Hounds Town Space Coast<\/a>. \u201cThere were absolutely zero companies to refer anybody to.\u201d<\/p>\n Paws Angels is a new nonprofit using thermal-imaging drones to help locate missing pets. (Leslie Bottesch)<\/p>\n The organization works with volunteer drone pilots who use thermal cameras to scan large areas from above. The technology can be especially useful at night and during the critical hours immediately after an animal disappears.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you do it immediately, we could do a radius search and detect with the thermal drone even at night,\u201d Bottesch said.<\/p>\n One of the pilots, Chris Carter, understands the fear and uncertainty families experience when a pet goes missing.<\/p>\n \u201cMy wife and I lost a pet last year. There\u2019s no Amber Alert. There\u2019s no real organized search party,\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n