Pets at Home has launched a 24-hour pet finding service, Find My VIP, that enables lost pet alerts to be sent via a specially-designed app.

To use the service, owners simply need to buy a Find My VIP collar ID from their local Pets at Home store or online and register the unique eight-digit ID on the tag online or via the Pets at Home app, which is free to download, to activate it.

If a pet goes missing, owners can immediately send out an alert to VIP members in their local area notifying them. They will receive a notification with the pet’s missing information including a photo of the pet, their name, breed, temperament and last known location.

Peter Pritchard, chief executive of retail at Pets at Home, said: “Find My VIP is a revolutionary service, the first of its kind in the UK, that will give owners peace of mind. If the unthinkable happens and your pet goes missing then you know you can rely on a network of more than five million pet owners to help find your pet quickly.”