That's now much easier thanks to the Internet-based Feral Cat Database, a project developed by Neighborhood Cats with funding assistance from PetSmart Charities and the ASPCA/Fresh Step Safe Steps Home Program. The database has been in use in New York City for the past two years as part of the NYC Feral Cat Initiative and has proven an invaluable tool for program management and collecting statistics.

Individual caretakers remotely enter their colony information, including numbers of cats at the outset of TNR efforts, numbers of cats currently in the colony, locations, contact info, and more. Each caretaker has password access to their colonies and can only view their own personal data. All entered data is cumulated and available for viewing and analysis by the database administrator either online or offline in a downloadable Excel file. Each community or TNR program that sets up a database has exclusive access to the information collected.

By tracking these statistics, it becomes possible to measure the impact of TNR in the community. For example, in NYC, there are currently 465 registered colonies. When TNR began in these colonies, 6047 cats were present - today, there are 4523 cats present, a decline of approximately 25 percent. In addition, the data reveals that 3125 cats and kittens have been rescued and placed for adoption, an average of 6.7 per colony. Numbers like these help gain acceptance for TNR as a legitmate method of feral cat control and strengthen proposals for more funding.

The database is a product of Global Media Services and can be purchased for a one-time startup fee of $525 (to cover the cost of customizing the site to your specifications) and then $10 a month for hosting on the GMS server. A sample database has been set up online where you can enter test data and then check out the different functions on the administrative side of the site. To access the sample site:

User side (Where caretakers enter their data).

Admin Side (where the administrator of the site works with the data). To log in, enter "admin" for the email address, and "password" for the password, without the quotes. Pleae click on and read the Instructions tab when first entering.

Throughout the animal welfare field, the demand is growing for programs to have a measurable impact - with this database, now feral cat caretakers can meet this standard.

Source: Neighborhood Cats

The Marine Corps called the video "shocking and deplorable and is contrary to the high standards we expect of every Marine."

Marine spokesman Maj. Chris Perrine said the soldier in the video was believed to be based in Hawaii and he added, "We do not tolerate this type of behavior and will take appropriate action."

The video looks like it was shot by a cell phone camera. The Marine holds the black and white puppy by the neck and says, "Cute little puppy, huh?"

He then throws the dog over the cliff and the Marine shrugs his shoulders while another Marine laughs and says, "That's mean. That was mean, Motari."

Perinne added, "Certainly there's a lot of outrage and a lot of people are upset about it. I think every Marine is upset about this video. We will investigate and take appropriate action and make sure our Marine is safe as well. That is mistreatment of a puppy. That is a violation of anybody's standards. and the Marine Corps sets extremely high standards."

The authenticity of the clip, which was viewed more than 145,000 times since it was uploaded to YouTube, has not been verified. "It's questionable," sources told one national online news agency. "But even if it was a fake, it's still outrageous." The video has been removed from YouTube because it violated content rules.

Source: News for cats and dogs - Investigation Into Video Of Marine Throwing Dog Off Cliff In Iraq

For Rebecca Backer, her six-year-old Labrador Mooch went missing for more than two weeks. She called animal shelters, put up fliers, and searched all over the neighborhood with no luck. Backer didn't think she would ever find Mooch again.

Then Backer found out about FindToto.com. a nationwide Internet-based company that specializes in finding lost pets. FindToto.com helped Backer by calling all of her neighbors with a pre-recorded message of what Mooch looked like and who to call if they found him. A country club owner had received one of those calls, had seen Mooch around the country club, and contacted Backer. Mooch, hungry and a bit thinner, was finally reunited with Backer.

FindToto.com co-founder Krisylyn Sterlino said, "It's like the Amber Alert for pets. Plus, putting up fliers takes a lot of time and not everyone sees them."

Bill Rozich's Colorado-based organization, Amber Alert for Pets, also helps find missing pets by notifying members through e-mail. The organization has 3,700 members who have joined and have pledged to help other pet owners in the organization search for their pet if they go missing.

Source: News for cats and dogs - Amber Alerts For Cats And Dogs Help Reunite Pets With Owners

For more information on finding a lost pet, LostDogSearch is a one-person volunteer operation that provides free information, guidance, and support through this website, emails, and phone calls.

Join Burnie and Flash for a Competitive 1-mile Run and a Non-Competitive 1-mile Jog/Walk Sunday, March 16th at noon in Sam Houston Park, 1000 Bagby, benefiting the Houston Humane Society!

Entry Fees:

Early registration is $20. Check and completed entry form must be postmarked by March 7, 2008.
Registration after March 7th is $25.
Race day registration is $30.

Click here to download the registration form.

Click here to register right now online.

Beginning March 1, 2008, nominate a Kind Kid in one of two categories:

Children: Ages 6 to 12
Teens: Ages 13 to 17

Submit a 300-word description of how the child you are nominating has shown extraordinary kindness to animals, and no more than two color photographs of the child participating in the kind act. See the Official Contest Rules.

There are two ways to enter:

Submit an Official Nomination Entry Form by mail. Mail-in nominations must be postmarked no later than April 15, 2008.

Submit an Official Online Nomination Entry Form. Online nominations must be received by April 15, 2008.

Winners of this year's contest will be announced during American Humane Association's Be Kind to Animals Week, May 4 to 10, 2008. The Grand Prize winners will each receive $2,000 and a prize package.

To learn more about what makes a Kind Kid, meet last year's winners of the Be Kind to Animals Kid Contest.

Mildred's Umbrella Theatre Company presents the Houston Premiere of Naomi Wallace's, One Flea Spare, running April 24 - May 10, 2008 at the Midtown Arts Center, 3414 La Branch at Holman. One Flea Spare is the winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Obie Award for Best Play, and voted The Best of Theatre in 1996 by Time Magazine.

Darkly comic and deeply moving by turns, One Flea Spare is set in plague-ravaged 17th Century London where social roles and the boundaries that describe them have turned upside down. The definition of morality is up for grabs. History is being tantalized. Upper and lower class are forced to live in quarantine together and the secrets and sins of the four shut-ins are laid bare. The New Yorker critically hailed the play as, "artful and haunting...One Flea Spare is built to provoke, not to distract, and it doesn't surrender its meanings easily."

When:

April 24 - May 10, 2008
Thursday - Saturday
Monday Performances April 28 & May 5, 2008
All Performances at 8PM

Proceeds from the May 1, 2008 performance will benefit the Homeless Pet Placement League.

Where: Midtown Arts Center, 3414 LaBranch at Holman, Houston, TX 77004

Ticket Prices: $13 General Public & $6 for Students & Seniors, pay as you like on Mondays.

Group rates available on request.

For Reservations Call: 832-418-0585 or info@mildredsumbrella.com.