Karen Orr, founder and CEO of tech startup PAWS by O-no, seeks funding for iMyK9, a product designed to keep dog owners from leaving their pets in a vehicle for too long.
“Studies show that statistically, at least 5,000 dogs die of heat stroke in America every year,” Orr said at a recent meeting of entrepreneurial group 1 Million Cups in Madison. “And honestly, experts believe this is two or three times that number.”
With millions of dog owners in the United States, and police stations across the country relying on service dogs for explosives detection and search and rescue, Orr is trying to tap into a large market with what is essentially a child monitor for dogs. It lets the owner see, hear and speak to the animal remotely through an app, and is meant to be used primarily by travelers and animal handlers who leave their dogs in the car for short periods of time.
Through a Bluetooth connection, the device — a stripped-down cell phone with no calling features — will also report on variables like temperature and humidity, and will send push notifications if the temperature rises above 85 degrees or falls below 33 degrees. Read the full story here.
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