Tokyo, November 8:

In the high-tech land of Japan, pet owners are getting some electronic help with their four-legged friends.

AOS Technologies, for instance, is allowing them to leave Fido and Fluffy at home, where a remote-controlled communications system can look after them, a spok-esperson said. The system, called iSeePet, can take photos of the animal to send via mobile phones to their owners. It also has an automatic food and water dispenser that rings to signal to pets that it’s dinnertime. AOS plans to release a new, $340 model in the market in January.

Another firm, Matsushita Electric Works, is marketing a 14,800-yen pet-monitoring camera that uses sensors to mo-nitor a pet’s movements, takes pictures and sends them to the owner’s mobile phone or computer.