Help BEST FRIENDS reunite pets and their humans!

[shireen]

Hi ... there are some people here at DU who have been involved in animal rescue, and may be interested in helping out in this effort. Actually, it's winding down. I didn't know about this forum till recently, or I would have posted it here weeks ago.

Some background: as mentioned in an earlier post in December, Best Friends had an event the weekend before Christmas in NO for residents to register their lost pets. Many pets were "found" during that 3-day event. But there are still too many unsolved cases that internet volunteers are working on. At this point, we want to get through them quickly so the suggestion is this:

a) grab one or few cases

b) search for the breed (mixes, related breeds. etc.) in petfinder, petharbor, and other websites mentioned below. If you're doing this the first time, try to get a case with a photo to make it easier. Then go through the website pictures to see if they match your case(s).

c) if you see a potential match, you can either contact the shelter to verify the ID or contact the pet owner to get his/her opinion. If you're not sure what to do, no problem, just PM me and we can muddle through it together. BTW, shelters are starting to get pretty nasty about queries because many animals have already been adopted out. But if you think that there's a good chance for a match, don't let go ... if we get a positive ID, the owner may want to take legal action if the shelters won't give the pets back (already happening with some shelters!).

d) after scanning through the photos and you're satisfied there's no match, set that case aside and move on to the next one. If there's time later, we can do more serious detective work. But that's unlikely. We need to wrap it up this month.

WARNING: this can be emotionally difficult work. The number of rescued pets is staggering, the numbers of petowners missing their furry families is heartbreaking. If you're already stressed over other things going on in your life, don't do this unless you want to feel worse.


Here's what I posted on some pet volunteer search forums. PM me if you need help getting started.

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We're in the home stretch for reuniting pets and owners ... one final push!

BEST FRIENDS still needs our help reuniting pets and owners. If you can help, please grab a case or few. Scan through petfinder, petharbor, and some photo websites (listed below) to see if you can find a match. If you can't, set the case(s) aside, and move on to the next ones. We need to get through these quickly. It would be such a shame if those pets were right there in petfinder, but no one spotted them.

If you'd like to help, please follow these steps:

1) go to http://network.bestfriends.org
If you don't have an account, please register. After registering, check your email -- a message was sent to verify that your email address is working. You'll need to activate your membership by clicking on the link in that email message.

2) Once you've joined, go to http://network.bestfriends.org/lostfriends . There's a link on the right that says 'Join this community'. Click on it and select whatever preferences you want in the pop-up screen.

3) You've now successfully joined the "Find Your Lost Katrina Pet" Community". Click on the "Forums" tab (in orange, near the top of the page). Then click on "Find This Pet" . You'll now enter the "chamber of lost pets", a forum where all BFE cases are posted.

Each pet has its own thread, identified by BFE (Best Friend Event) and Petfinder IDs in the topic. If you want to work on a particular case that no one has claimed, just post a message saying you've taken it. If you've looked in petfinder, etc., and there was no match, please make a note of it in the pet's thread, esp. the date of the last time you looked in petfinder -- later, someone can check for pets posted after that date.

Besides disaster.petfinder.com and petharbor.com, these website has photos of Katrina pets:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yepitsme770
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danakay
http://www.flickr.com/photos/spiritsmom /
http://www.20questions.tv/kare-animal-pics-w-tickets/index.htm#4

Questions? Please contact me at [e-mail] .

thanks!
shireen

[shireen]

1. and be on the lookout for

SPUNK!

[frustrated_lefty]

2. Shireen, you're a sweetheart.

Thank you for all the effort you've made. We literally lost everything we owned except the clothing on our backs to Katrina. I've been able to roll with the punches, doing my best to be strong for those who've needed it. From day one there have been people whose losses were far worse than our own. My family has many reasons to be grateful, and we remember that every day.

The only thing that breaks me down into tears is losing Spunk. I would have carried him out if I could have, but I had to get my kids out first. He trusted me and I let him down.

If a shelter refuses to give him back, that would suck but I could live with it just knowing that he's ok.

Sorry for babbling. I just miss my buddy something fierce. :(