Maverick, The Heroic Drone Finding Missing Pets In New York

A retired New York State Police investigator is spending his free time helping find missing pets with the help of Maverick, his thermal imaging drone.

When your pet is lost you'll do anything to bring them back home. That's when Chad Tavernia from North Country Drone Search & Recovery comes to the rescue.

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Maverick to the Rescue

Tavernia retired from the New York State Police in January of 2022 after a great career that he's honored to have been a part of. Now he's helping families find their missing pets with Maverick. "I've had a drone for several years and I enjoy flying it. This isn't something I look at as work."

Since January Maverick has lived up to its name, helping Tavernia locate and bring 8 dogs back home. He says another 6 or 7 have possibly heard or seen the drone flying overhead and have run out on their own.

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Rory was one of the lucky dogs Tavernia and Maverick helped find. The emotional rescue has over a million views in just 10 days.

More Lost Pets Than Drone Operators

There are only 3 or 4 other pilots in the entire state of New York that have the same expertise as Tavernia. Drone operators need an FAA certification. "It's not as simple as buying a drone and going out to find pets the next day. There's a lot of air space information you need to know."

There are a lot more lost pets than those who can help find them. Tavernia says he's been getting more calls than he can keep up with. "I realize I can't find them all. But when I do it's very rewarding to know a little drone likely saved an animal's life.

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Eddie was one of those animals. The 14-year-old yellow lab was lost in a dense swamp in Upstate, New York and probably wouldn't have survived much longer. Thanks to Maverick, Tavernia was able to direct the owner to Eddie's location. "After 4 days of being lost in the woods, it was so nice to see Eddie back home with his loving family."

Thankful Owners & Happy Pets

Eddie and Rory are just two of several animals that are safely back home thanks to Tavernia and Maverick. In every case, it's hard to tell who's more excited, the owner or the dog.

This picture says it all....