SUBSCRIBE!
Home
Current Column
Archived Columns

by Teresa Martin

When he stretches up on his tippy toes he's about 2' 2" and he's got the most gorgeous green eyes. He likes to snuggle in bed and run his claws through my hair. And then purr. And purr. And purr.

You can find anything online. Bellywarmer wide ties. Scatter rugs. Under-counter freezers. 10-packs of pillows. Bongo, the ceramic PenDelfin drum-playing bunny. You name it, and you can find it. Like I always say, the web is a mirror of all humanity.

And those findable objects include live cats and dogs. We have lots of homeless cats and dogs in our world. Some get lucky and find -- as the animal shelters say - a "forever home." Many others are killed, like so much excess inventory that didn't sell.

The web has changed the dynamics of pet adoption in ways both obvious and insidious. The obvious ways are mostly for the good. With a quick search, it is easy to find pet shelters and pet rescue organizations. You can learn adoption requirements and pricing in advance, you can see when the places are open, you can follow links with information about new pet care and how to find a pet that is appropriate for your lifestyle. Pet placement organizations that once struggled for visibility can now be visible to a very targeted audience.

Petfinder.com is an Arizona-based company that has built a business around Americans and potential adoptive pets - and along the way created a centralized marketplace, developed an advertising base, and spun off entertainment products. It describes itself as "one of the most unifying initiatives every to hit animal welfare" - and that's pretty close to reality.

The site started in 1996 as a New Years resolution to do something to help homeless animals. It now has 11,000 animal placement organizations listing some 250,000 critters seeking that forever home. In 2006, it was acquired by Discovery Communications and is part of the Animal Planet group. Which is why you can now watch animal adoptions from the comfort for you living room in the new Petfinder TV show, which just went on the air this month. It features breath-stopping moments like this:

Episode Three: Tamara & Steve:
Beachside hijinks ensue as Dina and Jarod search for a pet that will make high-strung Steve and his new-age girlfriend, Tamara, happy. The couple's human habitat makes this one of the toughest Petfinder assignments ever!

Increased visibility and awareness is good. Changing behavior and having people spay and neuter their pets to control the avalanche of unwanted kittens and puppies is positive. Bringing together people and pets for happily-ever-afters is a beautiful thing.

But, but, it also feeds our cultural quest for the perfect. Because we can search and compare so easily, we do. Increasingly we troll online for best prices or best colors or best attributes. If only the relationship with a critter were that easy.

Cats and dogs (and iguanas and guinea pigs and hooded rats for that matter) are living creatures. They aren't the end objects of a search game.

Consider this post from a shelter website blog:

People now scan through unlimited photos and descriptions of pets, in search of what they consider to be the 'perfect' pet. Being specific as far as personality goes is obviously crucial to matching a pet to your family, but some people have taken it to the point of specific size, colors, shade of colors, hair length, even eye color! etc as if looking for a new dress that will fit perfectly. Whatever happened to adopting a pet because it made you feel great knowing you saved a life that needed saving? Recently we had a couple who stopped by and looked at five other shelters for a kitten, they had seen near over 30 kittens yet still couldn't find one that 'clicked' with them. Our precious Princess dog was overlooked because she wasn't the right color, our little 14 pound doggie friend had five visitors yell at me because they said he was MUCH too big! Our sister sibling kittens are much too big for most at only six months of age... Prior to internet searching, these wonderful pets were quickly adopted simply because visitors would fall in love with them ...

That's the great intangible, isn't it? The web is a great tool for some initial direction and getting a flavor of what kind of animals are out there, but it shouldn't turn the process into a custom order shopping trip.

Blackberry and his sister, Hannah (whose fluffy gray tail floats in the air like a well-groomed banner), are not the kitties I went looking for.

I wasn't looking for longer fur. I wasn't looking for a black and white kitty. I wasn't even looking for green eyes. Yet when my new man put his little paw on my leg and kept popping his face between me and every other cat I greeted, I was hooked. I'd never seen any cat who lobbied so hard and thought so much. And who had a charming sister, as well.

Sometimes you end up don't end up with what you were shopping for, but you do end up with what you need.

We adopted our kitties from A Helping Paw, on Cranberry Highway in East Wareham. http://www.ahelpingpaw.org/ or 508-743-8406

Two other well-known Cape shelter are the Animal Rescue League in Brewster: http://arlboston.org, (508) 255-1030

And the MSPCA in Centerville: http://www.mspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ACAC_CapeCodHomepage (508) 775-0940

Your local vet is another great source for finding the right pet for your forever home.