If you've lost or found a pet in Sonoma County then read this

[arthunter]

Hello,

Because of my own recent experience of losing my cat, I've started a database of Sonoma County Stray Pets. My hope is to achieve a permanent record of lost and found pets in this county that is easily accessed by everyone. Craigslist is great but the listings expire and the Humane Society's website is constantly changing. We need a permanent way to see what animals have been lost and found in our county. Most of the strays are not at the Humane Society. They're in our back yards trying to survive.

Here's the link. Please post your lost and found pet photos. If you have a stray in your yard please take a picture of it. Someone could be looking for the animal. This will only work if everyone takes the time and makes the effort to document these poor animals.

StrayPetNetwork : Sonoma County Stray Pet Network

Thanks for caring!

Rosanne

[helenscott08]

HOW SAD that I don't see LOTS of replies from others who can benefit from your database of lost and found animals. I think this is a great idea and hope this message will spur others to enter their lost or found animals. I know of one party who lost a dog a couple of months ago and will have them contact you if you are still willing to create this data base. I sure hope you will.

helen scott
707-324-3108

Hello,

Because of my own recent experience of losing my cat, I've started a database of Sonoma County Stray Pets. My hope is to achieve a permanent record of lost and found pets in this county that is easily accessed by everyone. Craigslist is great but the listings expire and the Humane Society's website is constantly changing. We need a permanent way to see what animals have been lost and found in our county. Most of the strays are not at the Humane Society. They're in our back yards trying to survive.

Here's the link. Please post your lost and found pet photos. If you have a stray in your yard please take a picture of it. Someone could be looking for the animal. This will only work if everyone takes the time and makes the effort to document these poor animals.

StrayPetNetwork : Sonoma County Stray Pet Network

Thanks for caring!

Rosanne

[arthunter]

Thanks so much Helen!

The site is still active and it is building slowly. I am underwhelmed by the response though. Perhaps, someone has a better idea of how to organize or promote this idea. All suggestions are welcomed.

This format allows for a permanent database of lost and found pets, unlike other formats which are temporary. Often lost pets are recovered weeks or months after they are reported missing so this is important. A lost cat will often hide for the first two weeks and by the time it finally comes out seeking help the postings about it on temporary forums have expired... that's the problem that I'm trying to address.

Also, this forum provides members with a daily email record of all postings, so if you've lost or found a pet this could be valuable.

Here's the link again should anyone want to take advantage or it.

StrayPetNetwork : Sonoma County Stray Pet Network

Thanks,
Rosanne

HOW SAD that I don't see LOTS of replies from others who can benefit from your database of lost and found animals. I think this is a great idea and hope this message will spur others to enter their lost or found animals. I know of one party who lost a dog a couple of months ago and will have them contact you if you are still willing to create this data base. I sure hope you will.

helen scott
707-324-3108

["Mad" Miles]

Rosanne,

You appear to be wondering why people aren't using your database. When you first posted notice of it on waccobb.net, I opened the link. I immediately noticed that to fully use it I would have to register with the site and get daily compilations of traffic. Both of those requirement are prohibitive. Yes, I can check the emails, but pictures and other features appear to be blocked unless I register.

I moderate about seven political yahoogroups(.com). Over the years many of those lists have become stagnant. Key reasons are people's reluctance to add to the amount of email traffic they get, and their reluctance to turn over personal information while registering. These requirements might be part of your problem with lack of participation.

To verify my memory, I just went to the site. Forty-one messages in July, that's not puny traffic! True, you only have four subscribers, but how many people are reading those emails without subscribing? But, you can't say because yahoogroups.com doesn't give you that information.

Also, personally, I do not own pets, I do encounter cat traffic in my side yard (where I rent) but if a feline looks sick, hungry or otherwise distressed, I check with my neighbors. We pretty much have each other's backs when it comes to new visitors.

Just some thoughts, hope they help,

"Mad" Miles

[arthunter]

Thanks for your comments, Miles ...

I did think that the registration requirement might put some people off but, in my opinion, that's a small price to pay for the benefits of receiving constant information about the lost and found pets in the county. Of course, this becomes a lot more important if you've found or lost a pet.

Also, you can elect to receive a daily digest, just like Wacco, instead of a lot of different emails.

Unless they've been stolen or killed, then the lost pets in the county are somewhere. They're hiding in our backyards, in our blackberry bushes, under our decks, in our outbuildings. Sure a lot of these poor creatures are feral but some of them aren't ... they're just acting feral because they're lost.

What I had hoped to achieve was some kind of database of these lost animals and I know that they're not easy to photograph, ... but with patience and a digital camera it can be done.

In my search for my own cat ( an orange tabby if anyone see him ) I've found so many other strays out there just hoping for a break. I've saved 8 or 9 of them, ... I've lost count. But I've found over 30, ... it's heartbreaking. People are abandoning them or they're just getting lost. I have one on my property that I feed every night... a grey and white tabby if anyone's lost one ...

By the way, Whole Foods has the least expensive kibble for feeding the strays ... $2.50 for 3 pounds ... so please do feed them. Put food out in the morning so that the raccoons don't eat it all and make sure that they have plenty of water and shelter. Unfortunately, the predator population is huge in Sonoma County so these strays are really up against it.

Anyways, the site has 41 members now and it's growing but we need more entries in the "found" department.

Please do photograph those strays if you can,

Thanks!

Rosanne

Rosanne,

You appear to be wondering why people aren't using your database. When you first posted notice of it on waccobb.net, I opened the link. I immediately noticed that to fully use it I would have to register with the site and get daily compilations of traffic. Both of those requirement are prohibitive. Yes, I can check the emails, but pictures and other features appear to be blocked unless I register.

I moderate about seven political yahoogroups(.com). Over the years many of those lists have become stagnant. Key reasons are people's reluctance to add to the amount of email traffic they get, and their reluctance to turn over personal information while registering. These requirements might be part of your problem with lack of participation.

To verify my memory, I just went to the site. Forty-one messages in July, that's not puny traffic! True, you only have four subscribers, but how many people are reading those emails without subscribing? But, you can't say because yahoogroups.com doesn't give you that information.

Also, personally, I do not own pets, I do encounter cat traffic in my side yard (where I rent) but if a feline looks sick, hungry or otherwise distressed, I check with my neighbors. We pretty much have each other's backs when it comes to new visitors.

Just some thoughts, hope they help,

"Mad" Miles