| Pet Search was
set up in February, 1992 specifically to reduce the number of stray
animals euthenased each year in Australia.
Our initial approach has been to help people find their lost pets.
Using any appropriate technology and providing real support for people
when they really need it.
Our research identified that there was no effective co-ordinated
system to reunite lost animals with their owners.
Pet Search revolves around a database to which we add
information about animals found all over Australia.
Basically, Pet Search is all about creating synergy.
It brings together the efforts of many caring people who have been
working in the "wilderness" trying to help people and lost animals get
back together.
Until
the introduction of Pet Search all vets, councils and animal welfare
agencies worked in isolation - pockets of information were kept in
different locations all over Australia. This meant that to search even a
small section of a state for a lost pet, a person would have to make many
phone calls to ensure all avenues were investigated.
At Pet Search we collect data from members of the public, vets,
councils, pounds and animal welfare agencies such as the RSPCA, Cat
Protection Society and The Animal Welfare League about animals found all
over Australia. This information is continually fed into our computer.
When someone contacts us who has lost a pet we search our
computerised database given the description they provide about their
lost pet. When matches are highlighted we provide the details of the
person or organisation which is holding the animal, the client then
makes contact to identify and collect the animal.
It has been our experience that many people are concerned about
sending animals they have found to the municipal facilities because they
are concerned that the animal will be euthenased. Even if told that
legislation requires that they do so, they still prefer to keep the
animal at home.
By
advising Pet Search of the animal's whereabouts it at least ensures the
animal enters the "system" and thus increases the possibility of it
being reunited with its owners.
There is absolutely no charge to anyone who wishes to add a found
animal to the database. For those who wish to access the database to
help find their pet, a small fee is payable which covers one week's
access to the database and our support.
We can also publish a written "Lost Pet Report" to vets, pounds, pet
shops, grooming salons, obedience clubs and police stations etc. This
enables our clients to communicate directly with hundreds of people who
may take in their pet. The lost pet report actively communicates the
lost pet's description where it will do the most good - again with only
one telephone call. For a pet owner to undertake this task personally
would be very expensive and very time consuming.
The establishment of our web site is a natural expension of what we
already do. It helps us to communicate the descriptions and
illustrations of lost pets to an appreciative audience easily,
efficiently and effectively.
Aside from all this technology we have at our displosal we believe a
large part of the service which we provide is one of counselling -
really listening to people when they are sometimes quite distressed and
also guiding them on the best methods to use to find their lost animal.
Pet
Search is one service which doesn't have a down side - it helps the
people who have lost their pet - it assists the vets to get "strays" out
of their surgeries and any fees paid - it helps councils get animals off
the street at the same time cutting down kennel and vets fees - it helps
the animal welfare agencies reduce what sometimes appears to be an
insurmountable problem - finally it reduces the number of animals which
are put down each year.
For those individuals and organisations operating within the system,
it doesn't cost anything to use the database - only those people who
have lost their pets pay
a fee - as little as $50.00.
Pet Search is designed to cater for any domestic pets - not just
dogs. In the past we have been asked to help find horses, rabbits,
all types of birds, ferrets and a blue tongue lizard to name just a few.
Please encourage anyone who has found a pet to contact Pet Search on
1300 309 004 (or fax us on 1300 760 836) to add it to the database.
If you know of someone who has lost a pet, tell them about the service,
we can help them find their lost pet.
|