TARRINGTON, ENGLAND (Reuters Life!) - They've got patrol cars, walkie-talkies, wear uniforms and even use sniffer dogs when pounding the beat - but these aren't police officers - they are Britain's first proper pet detectives.

Tom Watkins, founder of Animal Search UK, is a real life Ace Ventura, and he gets a lot of teasing about the fictional pet detective played by actor Jim Carrey.

"I can have a laugh about it because I enjoy what I do," Watkins told Reuters while out on the beat in rural Herefordshire, England near the Welsh border.

"It is a really rewarding occupation, so a bit of mickey-taking (teasing) I can put up with, for the fact that it is such fun and I enjoy it so much," he said.

Driving around in vehicles resembling police cars with the words "Missing Pet Search Team" emblazoned across the front, Watkins and his uniformed team are available for hire to crack the trickier cases of animals gone missing or even stolen.

The newest members of the team are a black Labrador named D-For (as in D for dog) and Mikey, a scrappy looking Yorkshire Terrier. These canine super sleuths wear fluorescent jackets and use their sniffing skills to investigate the whereabouts of missing animals��even cats.

"It's very important to get a dog that's got the right temperament, that likes cats and that is not going to get excited when they find a cat," said Watkins.

After being given the scent of the missing cat, the dogs sniff in hedgerows and in out-buildings and will only bark, not attack, if they detect an animal that is perhaps trapped in a garage or a shed.

The pooch pet policemen are being trained by dog behaviorist from the School for Scoundrels, Bert Harris.

"We're trying to train different dogs to do different things," Harris told Reuters.

"We need to get dogs that are interested in the particular animals we are searching for, it could be cats, dogs, horses, any animal," he said.

The handlers will also be armed with recordings of the lost animal owners voice, calling out for example "Here puss, puss" to aid in their searches.

At 30 pounds ($60) an hour, the service is aimed at elderly or disabled people, who are not able to physically search for lost pets themselves.

Watkins, a former police officer, founded Animal Search UK in 1999 after becoming disillusioned dealing with human crimes.

"I always wanted to help people and unfortunately with the police I found that because of lack of resources and manpower sometimes, however much I tried, I couldn't," Watkins said.

But he said his decision to leave the force and start a new career combining his love for animals with his investigative skills has been more rewarding.

"It has its similarities with police work but it is much less stressful. We don't get as much abuse as, generally, people are more favorable towards us. We get a lot of support from the public, it restores your faith in community," he said.

His business began as a humble telephone hotline, then a Web site (www.animalsearchuk.com) that now features more than 1,500 missing pets.

There's Rosie the cat whose owners say on the site "May have left because we got a puppy," or Trevor who is described as "Not returned from a toilet trip".

While the majority of cases involve cats and dogs, Watkins has headed up investigations into more unusual wayward pets, such as ferrets, a tortoise and even a peacock.

Watkins said the toughest case he has cracked was that of Charlie the cat, who was unwittingly transported 130 miles (209 km) hidden in the bonnet of a neighbor's car.

"It's important to think out of the box sometimes with an investigation about a missing cat," said Watkins.

Armed with laminated color posters and leaflets the mobile search teams now hope to take the West Midlands-based patrols nationwide if there is enough demand.

The patrols have only begun this month, too early to know if they will be successful, but Watkins says if the success rate of his poster and hotline business are anything to go by, the patrols will be a hit.

"It's hard to quote exact figures, but I would say if we do 10 poster campaigns in a month, then four are normally found."