COLUMBUS – Pet FBI Executive Director Leslie Poole announced the 21-year-old Columbus-based organization has launched a database collaboration with HelpingLostPets.com.
Together, the nonprofit service organizations offer a comprehensive listing of lost and found pets across the United States and Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Pet guardians who have lost a pet now will enter a report only once at either site and the information automatically will populate both databases.
The larger and more comprehensive web-based information source will greatly increase the chances of reuniting lost animals with their families. It is always free of charge to post and search for lost or found companion animals through either organization.
Lost Dogs of America, an additional project collaborator that has reunited more than 100,000 dogs with their families free of charge since 2011, will lend the organization’s Facebook reach of 500,000 fans and robust nationwide volunteer network to share posts from the national database on their respective social media pages.
“We are excited about the potential of this groundbreaking collaboration,” Poole said. “We hope that other organizations with similar missions will want to join this effort to create the most comprehensive, free tool for reuniting lost pets with their families. In time, I hope to see this collaborative tool used as an essential resource when large numbers of pets are displaced, such as during a natural disaster.”
“All of us at Lost Dogs of America are thrilled to see this next step in lost pet recovery,” said Kathy Pobloskie, co-director of Lost Dogs of America. “We hope to see the day when there will be one centralized lost and found database used by all organizations, shelters, animal control and/or stray holding facilities, police departments and vet clinics. This is a start, and we welcome more organizations to get on board with our mission.”
Pet FBI was founded in 1998 as one of the first web-based lost and found pet services. In 2014, the non-profit all volunteer organization expanded capacity to serve the entire United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The Pet FBI database can be found at www.PetFBI.org.
Helping Lost Pets (www.HelpingLostPets.com) created their map-based lost and found registry in 2010, serving the United States and Canada with the mission of having one website where all lost and found pets are listed.
Lost Dogs of America’s (www.LostDogsOfAmerica.org) member states began using the Helping Lost Pets database in 2014 and now, combined with Pet FBI, individuals who have lost or found a pet will have access to thousands of lost and found listings across the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, free of charge.
The integrated database listings can be searched through any of the collaborators’ websites, which also list tips for recovering a lost pet.
Representatives of organizations that wish to consider joining the effort may contact Poole at [email protected].
