Internet helps owners reunite with their lost pets

Erica Johnson

Friday, July 13, 2001 | 4:16 a.m.

A national website has been launched to help owners find lost pets. It joins three local websites with the same purpose. Where to find them on the Internet:

Barbara Pendergrass of Scottsdale, Ariz., spent a sleepless night last week when her Shepherd mix, Callie, ran away after workmen left the gate open.

Pendergrass looked by car and foot for seven hours, but her search proved unsuccessful. Calling the animal shelter would have been pointless, as it was after hours, she said.

The next morning, Pendergrass called Maricopa County Animal Control. A voice activated recording referred her to a new website, 1888pets911.org.

Pendergrass logged on, entered her zip code and a description of her dog, and in a matter of seconds had the telephone number of the woman who found Callie.

Pendergrass said if it weren't for Pets911, she would have had to drive around town searching shelter after shelter. "It was wonderful," Pendergrass said. "It was so easy to do and the fact that I got an immediate response amazed me. I was able to call right then and there, with no delay. A pet is like your baby. When you're missing one, you want feedback now."

The Pets911 site Pendergrass used is the only national website of its kind, allowing animal lovers to find lost pets and adopt new pets with the click of a mouse. But according to a local animal shelter representative, a similar local service is available here.

Pets911, which also has a bilingual toll free hotline, (888) PETS-911, was created through a partnership between animal welfare organizations like the American Human Association and Petsmart Charities, and several animal foundations.

The company is based in Phoenix but two years ago organizers began soliciting the program nationwide, Tara Zontanos-Alves, public relations director for the network, said.

The site's lost and found link has descriptions of hundreds of animals and allows users to search the site for lost pets or submit information on found pets by entering a zip code.

In most communities photographs of the pets are available and site coordinators are working on getting photographs of animals in all zip codes, Zontonos-Alves said.

The site's adoption link has a listing of animals up for adoption and contact information for local animal shelters. The spay/neuter link directs users to low-cost spay and neuter locations in their area.

Since going national, the program has attracted over 100,000 users a month, Zontanos-Alves said.

"People want to help but don't know how," she said. "This is just giving them a resource to make a difference on their own. It's a matter of educating the public."

But Jim Lusk, financial coordinator for the Dewey Animal Shelter run through Clark County and North Las Vegas, said Dewey's website, deweyanimalcare.com, was helping Las Vegans find their lost pets long before people knew about Pets911.

Dewey's website, created a year ago, has up to date information on pets brought into the Dewey Animal Shelter at 4800 West Dewey Drive, near Decatur Boulevard.

Lusk said each animal brought into the shelter by 6 p.m. has its picture on the website that night. Over 350-400 photographs are on the website daily, he said.

Unlike Pets911, in which the person searching for the dog and the person who finds the dog coordinate their own meeting, users of Dewey's website must come into the shelter to claim their pet.

Lusk said the Dewey Shelter will see 25,000 pets this year. He said only 37 percent of the pets are reclaimed by their owners.

At the Dewey Shelter, animals not claimed within three days are put up for adoption. If they are not adopted in three days, the animals are euthenized, Lusk said.

Other local shelters have not yet created interactive websites providing updated information on lost or found pets.

Jujuan Morris, administrative director of the Leid Animal Foundation, said her shelter is in the process of redoing their website to provide information on pets brought into the shelter.

Morris said the website, expected to be up and running by next month, will be categorized by breed and will have pictures of each pet in the shelter. The site will be updated daily.

Morris said owners can claim their pets by coming into the shelter at 655 North Mojave Road, near Bonanza Road and Eastern Avenue.

Vicki Cameron, animal control administrator for the Henderson Shelter, said the Henderson Shelter has a website, but the shelter is too understaffed to provide photographs or descriptions of pets.

She said people looking for lost pets must visit the shelter at 390 West Athens Road, near Sunset Road and Boulder Highway, Monday through Saturday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.