Looking for the perfect pet to adopt can be a time consuming venture. But finding the perfect pet may be as easy as surfing the Internet.
Carson City Animal Services now allows potential pet owners to view animals on-line through www.petfinder.com, a free, virtual pet shelter.
"We wanted to get more exposures for the animals," said Tracy Edgar, animal control supervisor. "Everybody is on the Web. People are on their computers all the time, and this is an interesting place to go."
About 10 Carson City pets are featured on the site each week, and visitors have access to 50,000 pets in 3,000 shelters nationwide. Each animal has its own page, most with photos and extra information about the pet. Edgar said she has received requests for Carson pets from across the country. Anyone interested in adopting a pet still has to travel to the shelter to complete the adoption process.
"There are a lot more animals down here than are on the Web site," Edgar added.
The Web site also has listings from multiple Nevada shelters including shelters in Silver Springs, Reno, Fallon and Yerington.
The Web site is another venue for animal services to increase successful animal adoptions.
"Our ultimate goals is to find homes for as many adoptable animals as we can," she said.
Animal services has a 100 percent adoption rate with its four-month-old Pet Adoption Day every Sunday at Pet Supermarket in South Carson City. Around 35 dogs have been adopted since the program started. In November, 20 dogs and 12 cats were adopted, 53 were sent to a rescue group and only nine were euthanized, the last step for animals at the shelter.
The shelter is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is located at 3770 Butti Way. Call 887-2171 for information.
To see Carson City pets for adoption on-line, go to www.petfinder.com/shelters/NV23.html.
