WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- A West Palm Beach surfer may have caught the next big wave when it comes to keeping your pet safe.

The Petsafe Micro ID Collar is a small invention that's making a big splash and getting the attention of pet owners, television station WPBF reported.

The collar's inventor, Jonathan Warren, first tested the data-collecting collar on his dog, Cookie.

"It holds 256 megabytes of information," Warren said. "Anything you want to put on there ... all the information you want someone else to know. Basically, it's your voice when you're not there."

Warren says if your pet is ever lost, someone can access the information by taking apart the collar and plugging it into a computer with a plug-and-play USB port. He said that makes his product better than existing microchips, which are implanted under the animal's skin.

Warren says that the Micro ID Collar is also waterproof, which means it never needs to be removed, unless it's absolutely necessary.

The idea for the collar came from Warren's childhood, when he rode his bike to school every day.

"I had this little microfiche card that had all my information, how to get a hold of my parents at work, that I'm allergic to penicillin ... so if I got hit by a car, someone would have that, like, the paramedics," he said.

The Micro ID Collar beat out 5,000 other entrants in a national pet product invention contest. The collar made its official debut in March at a pet expo in San Diego.

The first-prize cash award was worth $40,000. But Warren said the sense that his dog will be safe outside is more important than the money.

Dog owners who want one will have to wait for a few months. The collars go on sale in September for $30 each at Petco stores nationwide.