I’m pleased to see that since its launch in 2003, my Lost and Found Pets web site at CanadaStrays.com is still going strong. In fact (within the last day or so, I guess) the counter on the sidebar has just passed the 1000 mark of “pets found by owner”. This is measured by the number of owners who remove their pets’ ad from the site after having been reunited with them. Now, that’s not to say that all 1000+ pets were found because of this web site, but when the owners do delete their ad they also have the option of commenting on the site; in particular about whether or not it helped them. After reading all the comments that come in to my inbox, I would say that around 60% of the owners found their pet through CanadaStrays.com, which isn’t at all bad in my book.
I originally created CanadaStrays.com as a birthday gift for an animal lover friend of mine from Ottawa. She was always trying to find homes for strays in her neighbourhood, so I thought this would be a useful tool for her. Once it took off, shortly after its launch, the database of pets just grew and grew until it became a useful resource for pet owners from all over Canada.
In March of this year, it’ll be six years ago that I launched the site. I hope it does just as well in the next six years and eventually passes the 2000+ mark for pets found by owner.
