Pet Adoptions Assisted by Technology

October 26, 2010 by · 2 Comments

I met with a friend this past Friday night for dinner. During our conversation she mentioned that our local shelter, Marblehead Animal Shelter is over run with kitties. Her daughter volunteers there cleaning the cages and petting the kitties. This seems to be an issue with most if not all animal shelters across the country.  Having said that there might be a technological solution that assists kittens, cats, dogs, and puppies in finding forever homes.

Photo: Idaho Humane Society

iPet Companion, a new technology created by Apriori Control in Boise, ID enables people to interact via the internet with kittens at Humane Shelters via robotic control. The first site was launched live at the Idaho Humane Society and most recently at the Oregon Humane Society.  People from as far away as Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, England, New Zealand and Switzerland have interacted with kittens at these shelters.

The primary goal of iPet Companion is to entice people living near a local shelter to visit and adopt a kitten after having played with the kittens online. The Idaho and Oregon Humane Societies have realized increased traffic to their websites, as well as increased sponsorships, donations and adoptions. Real time interaction from users in the immediate community and worldwide have developed an emotional connection; including those who are allergic to animals. Apriori has received requests from Humane Societies in PA, WA, AZ, IL, OR, Canada and the City of Long Beach to name a few.

To play with kitties, click your way over to the Idaho Humane Society iPet Companion page or the Oregon Humane Society iPet Companion page and click the “Let’s Play” paw button. The page will prompt you for a download, and then you will be placed in a queue. Each person gets two minutes of kitty playtime. You can control various toys by clicking the “control” buttons or by hitting the corresponding number keys. You can also move the camera around.

My friend’s daughter wanted her to adopt another kitten, but they already have three. And my friend would not fancy being known as the “cat lady” of Marblehead. I am hoping the shelter might be able to install the iPet Companion. Perhaps your local shelter could benefit from it as well.

Contact: Scott Harris sharris@aprioricontrol.com

Filed Under: Animal Rescue, Animal Shelter, Cats, Dogs, Kittens · Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Kitten World Cup Match

July 10, 2010 by · 6 Comments

The World Cup soccer final is scheduled for tomorrow, July 11th with Spain facing the Netherlands. The now world renowned “psychic” octopus predicts that Spain will win. He seems to have a pretty good track record. So if Spain does win the match, it might be anticlimactic.

These kitties are certainly very agile and athletic while corralling the bouncing ball. And seem to be getting in a good workout. Just wondering which kitty represents Spain and which represents the Netherlands? What do you think? GOOOOOOAAALLLLLLLLLLL!

Filed Under: Cats, Video · Tagged With: , , , , ,

Kittens & Cats Still in Need

July 1, 2010 by · 1 Comment

Aren’t these kittens adorable?! With it being the 1st of July the annual Adopt a Cat month of June for this year has now passed. But unfortunately that has not ended the urgent need for cat adoptions.

The weather is heating up across the country and kitten season is well underway.  Adult cats come out from hiding and reproduce. On average, female cats that haven’t been spayed have two or three litters per year, with one to eight kittens per litter.

Shelters have limited space and are overwhelmed.  This is compounded with communities suffering from natural disasters. And with the economic downturn people are unable financially to keep their pets.

Creativity is the operative word for how shelters are trying to reduce number of cats/pets waiting to be adopted:

  • low cost spay and neutering to reduce number of kittens
  • adoption fees waived
  • purchase two cats for price of one
  • fostering a cat

Resources:

adoptapet.com

ASPCA

Local Feral Cat Groups

Petfinder.com

SpayUSA

Filed Under: Animal Rescue, Cats, Kittens, Pet Adoption, Pet Fostering, Rescue Groups · Tagged With: , , , , , ,

“Octomom” touts pet spay & neutering

May 19, 2010 by · 5 Comments

PeTA has enlisted the help of “Octomom”, Nadya Suleman to help promote spay & neutering of pets to pet owners. For $5,000 and a month’s supply of veggie dogs and veggie burgers she will place the above noted ad on her front lawn in La Habra, California, at 11 a.m today.

Already the ad has garnered attention from major media outlets for free; CNN, NBC, AOL News,  E! Online, USA Today, and the New York Post. With “kitten season” now underway it seems that this current focus on “Octomom” is well deserved.

Animal Birth Control

  1. Up to 8 million dogs and cats inhabit shelters annually. At least half of these animals are euthanized.
  2. 25% of animals at shelters are purebreds.
  3. Female dogs and cats in heat have to fend off male animals without much success.
  4. Spaying and neutering is a life saver for overall health and well being of your dog or cat.
  5. Spaying and neutering puppies and kittens is cost effective.
  6. With so many animals in need of good homes adoption is a life saver.

Following is video of above noted PeTA ad being unveiled.  Must say listening to paparazzi is very annoying.


Source: PETA

Filed Under: Animal Rescue, Animal Shelter, Animals, Cats, Dogs, Kittens, Pet News · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kittens against the slide….

May 14, 2010 by · 1 Comment

One can never get enough of watching kittens wander about while mom comes to the rescue….

Filed Under: Cats, Kittens, Video · Tagged With: , , ,
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