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SUSAN
DUNN ARNOLD was having her
house remodeled when her two standard Poodles, Jemiamah
and Molasses, disappeared.
"Now,
I like to tell people that
they were so smart that they let
themselves out',' said Arnold, "but
someone left the gate open!'
Arnold
and her husband were out of town. The housekeeper and
Arnold's mother-in-law were home
with the kids, and they were
devastated.
"When
you think as much of dogs as we do of ours, losing one is a real
trauma. It was a nightmare for the
kids. My 14-year-old had
been
looking for two days when my
assistant at work heard about the situation. He 'called the
PetNet number, a volunteer entered
the information [in the
computer], and a match was
made on the spot!"
PetNet,
a computer network devised
primarily to locate lost pets,
went on line in June 1986 at the
Dallas Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. It is the brainchild of Dallas
businessman Frederick Brodsky and computer expert Don Eisan, and
is staffed by SPCA volunteers who
handle about 50 calls a day
from people who have lost
their animals.
When
Dallas Animal Control picks up a dog, a full description of the
animal, plus the zip code where it
was found, are entered into the PetNet computer. When an SPCA
volunteer takes a lost pet call, the
same information is entered,
then an attempt is made to
find a match.
"PetNet
connects seven of Dallas
County's SPCA and Animal Control
Centers:' said Joy Ramsier,
SPCA shelter operations manager. |
The
original cost of the hardware
and software for the program was
$50,000, but Ramsier offers
the complete package—the
search program, an adoption
program, animal control
inventory, supply inventory
and payroll—to other cities and
humane organizations for $5,100.
The search module alone, with
multi-user capabilities, costs
$2,350.
Neighboring suburbs may get on
line absolutely free. The
Dallas SPCA will furnish the
hardware and the software.
The neighboring city needs to
furnish only volunteers to staff the phones and the computer terminals.
The current target is for 22
centers to ultimately be on line.
Rick
Denzer was repairing his
backyard fence He turned his back
for only an instant and Stoker, his
Rottweiler, was nowhere to be found.
For
six days, Denzer searched until midnight, nailing up signs in
the neighborhood and driving the
alleys in the cold and the
rain, calling out the dog's
name.
Finally, Denzer called PetNet. A
few hours later a match was made.
"I was
pretty happy',' Denzer said.
"I rushed to the SPCA when they
called me about the match, and sure
enough, it was Stoker. I
never dreamed that I could become so
attached to an animal. There is a
real bond between us!'
At the other end of the phone
line, there is no mistaking the
satisfaction and
excitement of the volunteer
at the terminal when she cries
out, We got a match!"
Smiles
break out all over the place.
When
you reach PetNet, you really
have love on the line. |
