Paw Patrol I'm A Pet Detective

She sniffs out missing fur babies!

- Julie Jacobson

Megan Denize might be a self-described “mad cat lady”, but it’s a precocious chook that’s giving her grief at our Woman’s Day shoot. Penelope is one of three hens Megan cares for at her Auckland home, and she’s pecked and squawked her way into the kitchen like a mischief-making child.

Still, having a chicken indoors is nothing out of the ordinary in this household, which is home to six cats, two miniature schnauzers, two chinchillas, a couple of Flemish giant rabbits, a pair of goats and two sheep. Joining them shortly will be a pup Megan plans to train up as a canine crime-fighter to work alongside her in her role as Inspector Spot, New Zealand’s first certified pet detective.

“People are completely mad about their pets and I’m one of them!” she laughs.

Megan’s pet-finding service began four years ago as an online tool to help reunite owners with their missing animals. But the 40-year-old marketing guru soon realised there was more to hunting down missing animals and headed to the United States for several months to study animal psychology.

Hunter instinct