Web site offers way to display missing dogs (or cats) in everyone's Windows

SPANISH FORK — Ever since she posted an Internet ad more than a week ago, Michelle Morin checks the site five times a day, waiting for a response. The 22-year-old Springville resident isn't looking for a date; she's looking for Sunshine — her orange, 8-year-old tabby cat that went missing Jan. 15.

"My sister let her outside," Morin said. "And she never came back."

Morin and her sister scoured the neighborhood looking for their beloved tabby and posted fliers in the local community — all to no avail. Morin went to the South Utah Valley Animal Shelter in Spanish Fork, hoping Sunshine ended up there, but she was disappointed once again. As she left, staff members suggested Morin post an ad on ucpets.com and expand her search to the World Wide Web.

This new Web site allows local residents to post ads and browse the South Utah County Animal Shelter database for missing pets. Ben Hardin, an animal shelter volunteer, dreamed up the concept a month ago as a way to help people find their lost pets.

"A lot of people consider pets as another member of the family," said Hardin, a Brigham Young University senior in computer science. "It's like reuniting a child with parents."

Last year, 40 percent of all strays were picked up by their owners at South Utah Valley Animal Shelter, said director Mike Morgan. It's a statistic to be proud of and improved upon, he said.

"We want to bump it up," he said. "And (the Web site) is one more way to get them home."

Morgan said his motive for reuniting pets and owners is as much a matter of economics as it is sentiment. "We don't want them here," he said. "Not to be rude, but we have enough animals as it is."

Housing strays at the animal shelter can be a costly matter, Morgan said. First there's a $25 impoundment fee for each stray an animal control officer brings in.

Then there's a $10 charge per day for room and board.

"It can build up," he said. And if the owner doesn't come to claim the pet, then taxpayers have to foot the bill.

The shelter houses 275 strays on an average month, Morgan said. While owners claim 40 percent of them, the staff has to find a way to take care of the other 60 percent. Contrary to popular belief, he said, most strays aren't euthanized.

"It's hard for (the staff) to do," he said. "It's absolutely a last resort."