I love learning new webcrafting skills. Right now, I'm like a child with a new toy as I've been mastering some interesting java and css scripts for displaying images more effectively.
Will they all show up on my websites? Probably not. Why? I'm only an amateur and so am likely not explaining it properly ... but not all versions of all browsers support every neat new thing I'm learning.
Site visitors who are not building websites / playing online games / etc might not have newer puters with bigger hard drives ( I can't explain why size matters with this except it somehow relates to speed :)
Nor would every site visitor have access to / feel the need to have high speed Internet access.
The short version of all this is that elaborate scripts can slow down the speed that a site loads on different computers, and I really don't want to start discouraging site visitors.
I know a lot of kind hearts who get discouraged by the lengthy adoption applications that can be found on most of the animal rescue websites. Now before the keyboards catch on fire ... yes I agree that care and caution need to be exercised to protect the adoptables.
Would it be possible to have two forms? The first would be a simple screening ... one page asking for contact information, personal and vet references, along with permission to check the other animal clinics in the area. When one is applying for a job, the references are usually checked before applicants even get to the interview stage.
After the references are checked ... then the phone interview could cover all of the same ground that the applications cover now. As part of the home visit, if things are going well, the applicants could sign the second form, which would include all the what if scenarios that make some initial applications so off putting for first time adopters. That would provide something in black and white to protect both parties, eh?
After all, as a friend of mine who works rescue in Nfld once said, "when you are face to face with someone, its easier to tell if they are being straight with you"
When people are infatuated, they are apt to say whatever it takes to win the day. While I understand the spirit behind the lengthy initial adoption application, its important to recognize how many great potential homes are also lost because people are intimidated by the process.
Maybe breaking it down into baby steps would be a better way forward. After all ... according to that survey that the CVA commissioned, this year in Nova Scotia 140,930 people could be bringing a new pet into their home. Just imagine how fast we could adopt our way to No Kill Nova Scotia if a bigger percentage could be enticed to adopt?
As a sidebar to that .... the survey also suggests the possibility that 29,595 people will bring home a new kitty and 64,827 folks will get a dog. Within those numbers, there is a strong possibility that only 5,031 cats and 8427 dogs will be adopted from shelters. Only? Well think about this .. that also means that there is no guarantee that the remaining new pets .. the majority of the new pets ... will be spayed or neutered.
Wow ... that means that this year alone, there could be 56,400 unaltered new dogs and 24,564 unaltered new cats entering the population.
Tell me again why there is no money in the kitty ( pardon the bad pun) for a provincial spay neuter program? If the NDP government are serious about stopping their numbers in the polls from circling the drain, this would a very meaningful place to start.
What time is it? It is always time to remember that strong voter feedback is the only thing that will inspire any politician at any level of government to react. Click here if you don't already have contact information for your MLA
It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds. Samuel Adams
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