DJI Drones Help Find Lost Pets in Virginia Mountains

When a pet goes missing, most people fall back on instinct. Walk the neighborhood. Call the name louder each time. Convince yourself the dog knows how mortgages work and will return voluntarily. It is emotional, time consuming, and rarely efficient, especially in mountainous terrain.

In western Virginia, one drone pilot is replacing guesswork with sensors, altitude, and a very capable DJI aircraft. WDBJ7 was there reporting.

From hunting drones to pet recovery missions

Hayden Vanburen launched BackRidge Drone Services in August, initially offering aerial support for hunters and landowners. The inspiration came from his cousin in Ohio, who uses drones to help hunters locate deer that disappear into dense terrain after being shot.

Vanburen saw an opportunity beyond hunting. Western Virginia is full of forests, ridges, and valleys where pets can vanish in minutes. He earned his commercial drone license and began offering pet recovery services using professional grade drone technology.

If a drone can locate a deer hidden in heavy brush, it can locate a lost dog or cat. That logic turned into a growing side of his business, one that has already reunited multiple families with their pets.

Why the DJI Matrice 4T makes the difference

Vanburen flies a DJI Matrice 4T, a drone built for industrial and public safety missions rather than hobby flying. This is not a consumer drone with a nice camera. It is a flying sensor platform.

The Matrice 4T is equipped with a high resolution thermal camera capable of detecting heat signatures through trees, brush, and uneven terrain. In cold weather, that capability becomes even more powerful. Warm animals stand out clearly against cooler surroundings, making dogs, cats, and even small wildlife easy to identify from the air.

The drone also features a powerful zoom camera for visual confirmation and a built in spotlight for nighttime operations. That combination allows Vanburen to locate an animal thermally, confirm it visually, and guide owners directly to the exact location.

Flight time allows for roughly an hour and a half of searching per operation with battery swaps, covering far more ground than a human search party ever could. According to Vanburen, if the drone can spot squirrels moving through the woods, locating a dog is rarely a challenge.

Speed matters when pets go missing

When a call comes in, Vanburen begins the search where the pet was last seen and expands outward in a structured scan. Once the animal is located, he works with the family on the ground to safely retrieve it.

He emphasizes contacting him as soon as possible. Predator activity increases during certain seasons, and coyotes are actively moving through the same areas where pets often become lost. A quick aerial search can mean the difference between a reunion and a bad outcome.

BackRidge Drone Services charges a flat rate of $200 for pet or deer recovery and operates in Botetourt County and surrounding areas. While the service is still relatively new, the success rate so far suggests this is a problem drones are uniquely suited to solve.

DroneXL’s Take

This is a perfect example of drones being used for something that genuinely matters. The DJI Matrice 4T is designed for search, rescue, and situational awareness, and pet recovery fits that mission profile perfectly.

Thermal imaging removes emotion from the search and replaces it with data, speed, and precision. As more pilots adopt professional platforms like the Matrice 4T, pet recovery may quietly become one of the most meaningful and practical uses of drone technology. We wish that more pets can come back to their owners thanks to this use of drones.

Photo credit: WDBJ7, Drone Supremacy.