Homeless pets and the Internet: Mountain Brook Animal Control ...

MOUNTAIN BROOK, Alabama -- Mountain Brook's homeless pets have joined the technological revolution. With the help of Mountain Brook Animal Control the furry friends are now online--part of countless other animal welfare organizations that list their homeless pets on the adoption website, Petfinder. The site, known as the "oldest and largest database of adoptable animals on the Internet, currently has over 375,000 homeless pets listed.

"I think it's a very positive thing," said Mountain Brook Animal Control Officer Ashley Martin about the ability to list the pets online. "It allows people to look at pictures of the animals beforehand and read about how the animals got here, what we know about their life story and what type of animal they are, what type of temperament they have."

Martin said that the area's Liberty Animal Hospital had already been listing pets online, but chose to involve animal control directly with Petfinder in order to maximize efficiency.

The site works similar to a database search. A potential adopter enters a list of search criteria--what kind of pet, what size, what gender and what age--within the proximity of a desired Zip code. From there, the site lists all the pets within the search area that match the adopter's specifications. A more detailed search will narrow down the list even more. Families might want a house-trained dog, for example, or a declawed cat.

Besides creating an idea of what type of pet an animal might be, added Martin, the site also allows adoption families to evaluate the healthiness of a potential pet before vet bills become a problem.

"The site lists whether or not an animal is up-to-date on vaccinations, what type of medication they might be on, and what illnesses a pet may have suffered from," said Martin.

All in all, she said, the site helps achieve the most important goal: securing a home for lonely pets.

"The website is highly beneficial," said Martin. "It seems to really boost the adoption rates."

Along with their Petfinder page, Mountain Brook Animal Control maintains a Facebook site--Mountain Brook Animal Control--that lists only the pets currently housed at animal control. As of today, there are eight dogs and five cats waiting to be adopted, said Martin.

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Source: http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2013/01/homeless_pets_and_the_internet.html

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