01/10/2026
When the restaurant closes for the night along the Jersey Shore, Michael Parziale starts a very different kind of shift. Instead of heading home, the 64 year old restaurant owner packs up his equipment, steps into the dark, and launches drones into the sky to search for missing pets.
Michael is an FAA certified drone pilot who turned his skills into a nonprofit called the U.S.A.R. Drone Team. Using a fleet of 18 drones, many equipped with thermal cameras, he scans fields, woods, neighborhoods, and farmland across New Jersey for lost dogs, cats, and even livestock. The heat sensing technology allows his team to spot animals that would be nearly impossible to find from the ground, especially at night.
So far, their efforts have helped reunite 122 animals with their families. But what makes his work even more remarkable is that he often refuses payment. Knowing how overwhelming it is to lose a pet, especially when money is tight, Michael chooses to help simply because he can.
Night after night, he flies those drones for one reason. He understands that a pet is never just an animal. It is family.
