During the terrible destruction of hurricane Katrina and other storms over the past year, thousands of animals were separated from their families during evacuation efforts. This was either because evacuations are set up primarily to save the lives of humans, not their pets. Secondly, even if families evacuated on their own and could have brought their pets, many might not have been able to find them during the chaos of natural disasters.

In response to this important need to reunite families with their pets, Petfinder.com and the Maddie Fund formed the Animal Emergency Response Network (AERN). According to the AERN website, 3,200 animals caught in the destruction of hurricanes Katrina and Rita were united with their families, or were relocated to new homes, thanks to the AERN database.

What is Petfinder.com?

Any organization that would do such wonderful work to save animals across the country deserves recognition. So what is Petfinder.com? Petfinder is a wonderful service that provides an online database of animals across the North American continent which need a home. It includes, and is supported by, over 10,000 animal shelters and adoptive organizations. Petfinder essentially serves as a central database for the country’s lonely and homeless pets, and a wonderful method for families who have loving homes for such pets to easily find a perfect pet that would fit into the family.

Surprisingly (because the website is so professionally done, and the operation is so well managed), Petfinder is a non-profit organization that consists of professionals and members of the public who volunteer their time to update and maintain this database. This is proof that there are some very good people out there.

How Does the Petfinder Database Work?

The Petfinder database provides searches through thousands of pet listings using various criteria including:

Animal
Breed
Age
Size
Gender
Location

And an advanced search section provides searches based on:

Animal type and breed
Age
Pets with a certain name
Only particular pets such as special needs, declawed, or only those recommended for children.

The results will return the name (if appropriate), the breed, gender, and even a photo. Clicking on the link will take you to the shelter or rescue organization which listed it.

A Pet Portrait Featuring Your Pet’s Name

If you are an organization considering listing a pet, one very unique way to provide an image of the pet that will really get noticed is to have a portrait done of the pet’s photo. Not only would this attract a great deal of attention, but you could also offer the portrait as a bonus to the lucky family who takes this animal back to a loving home. Pet portraits are sweeping the country as a very popular form of recognizing how pets mean to families.

The best pet portraits in the country are created by artist Nikky Hughes of Los Angeles. Nikky was classically trained at the Mission Renaissance art school, and she focuses on capturing not only the beauty, but the unique character of each animal. She will accept photos through the mail of pets, and then create stunning portraits from those pictures. Pet portraits are ideal because they can be done from a photo (as apposed to getting the pet to “pose” at a studio.)

Other Options at Petfinder

Petfinder provides other great services at their website, including a monthly newsletter that you can receive monthly. Just click the “Sigh up today!” button on the lower left part of the web page. There is also a search box to find Animal Welfare groups in your local area. There is an online library where you can learn more about the various breeds, a section where you can learn how you can personally volunteer locally to help pets, a training section with dog and cat training videos, lost and found pet classifieds, a blog and forum community, a shop where you can find animal-oriented gear, and even a “fun” section for kids where there are free Ecards and some fun games.

Petfinder isn’t only a website where you can go to find a pet, it’s a place that does a great service for communities across the continent, and it’s also a website you can go just to spend some time and take part in activities that are available for animal lovers from around the world.

Anyone who has ever started looking around for an animal to add to the family knows that getting a new pet can be very expensive, and it seems almost impossible to find a free pet. Many breeders ask for several hundred dollars, even for the smallest dogs or cats. Golden Retrievers are usually $700 to $800, Maine Coon cats can cost up to $900 or $1000, and rare exotic animals run much higher.

However, considering all of the pets in the world who are currently homeless, and are living in animal shelters without a loving family, it seems unreasonable and nonsensical to spend hundreds of dollars for a pet when there are so many who need to be saved.

While there are a number of animal rescue organizations and pet shelters around the country, there is only one resource which you should always start with, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

Healthy Pets Aren’t Always Free

Before we examine why it’s best to start with the ASPCA, which does charge some fees for adopting and rescuing pets, it’s important to note that it is possible to find a free pet, if you are careful and follow a few important guidelines.

Searching through the classified ads in the newspaper or online classified ads like PetsAds or PetsClassifieds.us, you can locate listings for free pets that people are giving away. It’s critical to understand that most free pet ads are from people who are giving away their pets for the following reasons:

They are moving to a place that doesn’t take pets.

They can no longer afford to have a pet.

They found a stray, but can’t keep it.

These are usually well-meaning people, but keep in mind that if they have a pet that they can no longer afford to keep, the pet may not be 100% healthy. If you do decide to take the classified ad route, just remember that most of the things that the fees pay for at the ASPCA, you will have to pay for anyway – including all shots, medical checkups and neutering.

It is perfectly okay to find free pets on your own, just remember that pets are never “free”. You will need to pay for the up-front (and continuing) health care for the rest of it’s life.

ASPCA and Pet Adoption

The ASPCA is a wonderful organization that helps to promote animal shelters and rescue organizations that take excellent care of animals across the country. At the ASPCA Website, you can adopt and save homeless animals in the following ways:

Find a Shelter

By clicking on the “Find a Shelter” link, you are taken to a search page where you can search for local animal shelters by city and state. The ASPCA doesn’t technically endorse the shelters listed by this utility, but it provides the search function to animal lovers who need a resource to find local shelters.

This is a very comprehensive National Shelter Directory, and it is a service to help families with lots of love to offer to connect with animals that need the love. Buying a pet from a local shelter is essentially like getting a free pet, because the fees to adopt a pet cover many of the upfront medical costs you were incur if you’d picked up the animal as a stray or free from a classified ad. Animal shelters take care of the upfront health concerns, so that when you adopt a pet from a shelter, you can be certain that the animal is healthy and well cared for.

In addition, many shelters offer a unique incentive for people to have their pets properly neutered by offering a discount or refund for the procedure with local vets.

ASPCA Adoption Center

The ASPCA Adoption Center provides listings of hundreds of cats and dogs who need a home. The main page of the adoption center explains everything you will need in order to adopt a pet. This is good to read even if you aren’t going to the ASPCA, because most shelters require the same information. Things you will need if planning to adopt a pet:

· Two forms of identification with your address on it (at least one picture ID)

· Two personal references who can be reached by phone

· Proof of vaccination for the pets that you already own.

· Proof of income

While this may seem excessive to some people, it’s important to understand that there are a lot of people out there who would not think twice about harming or being cruel to animals. The job of the ASPCA and all animal shelters across the country, is to protect animals from cruelty, and to make sure that animals are placed in homes where they have the best chances of being as loved and cared for as they deserve to be.

The benefits of adopting through the ASPCA (many animal shelters offer these same benefits):

14 days of free follow-up vet care

A leash, collar, and pet carrier to help bring the animal home

Educational literature about pet behavior and pet care

Free spay/neutering, vaccinations, microchipping and registration, all provided as part of the adoption fee.

 

Obviously, the only good option for finding a free pet is going through the ASPCA, or through a local animal shelter. This will ensure that you are getting a healthy pet, and you can feel good about doing your part to save an animal from a live without a home, and without love.

Support Animal Rescue Efforts With a Portrait

When you adopt your new pet, show people how much you love your new furry friend by having a pet portrait done by professional artist Nikky Hughes of Los Angeles. Nikky was classically trained at the Mission Renaissance art school, and she focuses on capturing not only the beauty, but the unique character of each animal. She will accept photos through the mail of pets, and then create stunning portraits from those pictures. Pet portraits are ideal because they can be done from a photo (as apposed to getting the pet to “pose” at a studio.)

The great thing about Nikky is that she’s a pet lover herself, and this is reflected in how she runs her business. Nikki donates 5% of every commission to an animal rescue foundation. This is a wonderful way that you can help to support the cause of animal rescue – and receiving a stunning portrait of your new pet in the process.