Learning to crawl

Update on this Post: I received word from a very reliable source that Metro is listing all its adoptables on Petfinder. They are over the moon about the fact that in the past month their adoptions have doubled. They should be shouting this from the rooftops by using the "adopted' option on their petfinder listings to create a separate page of "I've Been Adopted" listings because this is very good news indeed.
This morning when we came back from our morning hike, I found this comment waiting to be approved for this blog,
does anyone know if that dog Sing Sing with the unbelievable sad eyes was adopted. You can no longer view her profile, it just says she has been removed from petfinder. I hope this means Sing Sing found a home? I wish there was more follow up on adoptions.
I try not to play favourites with groups, but in the course of my work with the homeless pet pages I cannot help but have a special affection for those who use their 'happy tail' petfinder option on their site:

• first and foremost of course it lets everyone know that the pet has lived to tell the tale
• they understand that the best path to success is to "do a good job and tell everyone about it " to paraphrase one of my heroes, Nathan Winograd,
• it lets potential adopters know that pets don't 'sit on the shelf' indefinitely and if they are interested in a pet they should not wait to apply
• it encourages support from donors who will not provide support for groups that kill their adoptables, and of course
• It really shows they have nothing to hide

The Metro Shelter just launched their lovely new website this month. Its easy to navigate and they are very wisely using the available customized pet lists from Petfinder to list their adoptables.

Why not set up a customized list for the "I've been Adopted" pets. This is not the same thing at all as asking current adopters to send in happy stories and pics of their new buddies. While that is also a laudable tool to encourage other adopters, the Petfinder List lets the light shine in the dark and grubby corners.

Its actually a pretty simple equation: List all the adoptables + List all the pets who have been adopted = real transparency.

While I'm on the topic, I must say I don't very much care for the little qualifier they are using
Insiders Tip
That while every effort is made to keep our online “adoptables” up to date, this sometimes becomes a difficult task. For the most accurate listing of available animals please visit the shelter during normal business hours. Many animals find their forever homes before they even get a chance to be listed on the shelter website.

Right now there are 14 dogs, 17 cats, an unnamed number of kittens and 2 bunnies listed for Metro on petfinder. Admittedly that is a vast improvement from before, but still falls short of the new policy that rumour tells me is supposed to be listing all their adoptables in a timely fashion. More importantly, people are still so accustomed to being suspicious of the society's "doings" that it is extra important to go the extra mile with transparency right now.

That being said, I do understand that there are a lot of good pets that never need to be listed on petfinder because people with preapproved adoptions will be called about them first. That's how I adopted my Ruby ... ARC, SHAID and Lab Rescue were looking for an adult girl for me and when Ruby was rescued they sent me her pictures and the rest was history : )))))

But I'm wandering afield. At the end of the day I still believe the society is on a better path than they were before. There is still work to be done of course and I do understand "Rome wasn't built in a day". If you really want a glimpse of the possibilities ahead, go read the survey on the front door of the society's webpage http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=bPt5WPSAr8hm7Xu8ZBkzEw_3d_3d

As you can see, there are some promising ideas there to tantalize the animal loving community. But as a mother and a grandmother I can tell you that its just as important to learn to crawl and then to walk, before taking off in full flight.