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Home
Lost
& Found Pets
Success Stories
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What is Pets on the Net?
How does it work (why
is this free?!)
Why are we doing this?
Who runs petsonthenet.co.nz?
Media - Articles in
the media about us
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Proud to be
family friendly
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What is Pets on the Net?
Pets on the Net is New Zealand's nationwide
database for lost and found pets. Launched in March 2002, the core part of this e-service is
our nationwide free lost and found pet service fed by information from
many SPCA's, animal shelters, vets and of course the public. This was
then expanded to free ads for
Pets
for Adoption and also
Pets
Wanted to Adopt with huge success with thousands of pets
reunited and rehomed as a result. All classified ads are
totally free* and can include photos. Keeping text ads free means that every pet owner, pet
finder, animal welfare organisation, vet (anyone!) can advertise lost
and found pets and pets for adoption at no cost across NZ.
It's fair to say that prior to our inception, it was pretty dark days
in NZ if you lost a pet...Services for lost pets were totally paper
based and required daily telephone calls and subsequent trawling of
paper files or physical cages to check a myriad of potential shelters.
If people found a pet, they could only use radio (if available), or
newspapers which took days to publish. It was all very haphazard and
therefore incredibly frustrating. Then came the beauty of sharing
information on the internet...Now our database has drawn together many fragmented and often small/volunteer based
services into one powerful, easy to use "whole" on the net.
There is
no compulsory membership, no product/services to buy or fees to pay to use any part of
this service. And we never shut! Pets on the Net is available online
24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
*This excludes our Paid Ads which are...
 Our e-memorial
garden which is a separate paid section for one year long online
memorials for pets who have passed the rainbow bridge.
Pet
Services Directory our directory of Pet Services and Products
throughout NZ.
Or click here for more
information on advertising with petsonthenet
How
does it work (why is this free?!)
This is the first question many
people ask! We are constantly being asked how can we run such an
excellent service and yet keep it FREE?!!
 The answer is that your donations,
paid advertising
(banners, advertorial, pet services directory etc)
and sponsorship (more welcome!) support
the continuation of our free core community e-services for lost and
found pets and pets for adoption. We believe very strongly those core
community services must be kept free so that our database is as
comprehensive as it can possibly be and it is open to everyone to
use. And whilst petsonthenet.co.nz is totally web based we also gain
revenue through our "clicks and mortar" affiliates such as
Real Groovy,
Fishpond and Ellenco Pet Medical Care
Plans. You can also support us by choosing to buy our quality NZ
made range of engraved
ID tags for pets.
 
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Why are we doing this?
Our feline "founder", Sammy.
In June 2000, our stripy cat, Sammy, suddenly went missing. We did
all the normal things, search, door knock, fliers, phone the SPCA and vets
etc in the first few hours. We even rang the 0900 number that was
available then for lost pets (now defunct...), four unhelpful minutes
stung us $16...! Then we could do no more, but frustratedly wait for
the local paper to publish our lost pet ad in a few days time.
So we went to the internet to place an ad for her somewhere, we didn't
care how much it cost, we just wanted to find ONE place we could put
an ad online that "everyone" would know where to look at if
they found her. But it did not exist. Frustrated that no one had
created such a service when we needed it, we thought there should
be one and it should be nationwide and it should be
FREE!! So we saw right then, the incredible need for a site like this.
It was a huge idea to have to bring to reality.
Having no experience in website design whatsoever, it was a painfully
slow learning curve to put this together all by ourselves with only
one PC, "love, fresh air and plenty of midnight oil". But in
March 2002, we finally launched petsonthenet.co.nz, New Zealand's Free
nationwide service for lost and found pets. The first lost pet ad was
on within 2 hours! More followed. Then very soon, we started to
reunite pets, more and more! Then people started to adopt pets through
connections made on petsonthenet.co.nz, more and more! We've already had several inter-island NZ
adoptions and get several happy success stories through each day.
In later years a few other websites have attempted "me too" tack on
services to their own websites (ie paid ads for lost pets) on large
classifieds/auction sites that sell "everything including the kitchen
sink", merely as a form of extra revenue generation. However we remain
NZ's nationwide database for lost and found pets and pets for adoption,
a FREE and comprehensive service, specialist service and the ONE place
to find a lost pet online. We offer free advice, support and SPCA found
lists - much more than just another online "classifieds". We are run by
human volunteers, there is no 0900 support/ confusing auctions and we
continue to enjoy many reunion successes every day with 2500 - 3000 site
visits PER DAY!By the way, our cat came back! Three
days later she indignantly sprung from our neighbours locked wash
house and came home - hungry yet happy to be free. She had founded this
community service in her absence! Sadly Sammy was peacefully put to
rest in July 2003 after 14 good years, due to renal failure. But this
site will continue on as a wonderful tribute to her.
Who
runs petsonthenet.co.nz?
This site was created by and is run
by Kim Buchanan and Gavin Buchanan. We also have a team of over eighty
volunteers throughout NZ who help us.
Kim has a background in graphic design, corporate account management
and sales and her last (paid) employment was as a successful real estate sales person
specialising in selling Art Deco homes. Being a kid in the suburban
seventies of Auckland, Kim grew up with typical "city"
pets, cats, mice, fish, budgies and canaries.
Gavin has a sales background in advertising and print. Living semi
rurally as a kid, Gavin was a very keen horseman owing horses,
dogs, cats and an assortment of chickens.
Pets
on the Net is run from home (avoids commuting and keeps costs lower) and
allows the pleasure and flexibility to be able to have our pre school children at
home. It's also very satisfying and
rewarding to work on petsonthenet.co.nz, knowing it helps so many people. We get
many heart warming emails of thanks every day (keep 'em coming!). It's
very busy and a constant juggling act as there are never enough hours
in the day for all of ideas we have and want to implement. But we are doing what we love and that's all you possibly ask for, to love
your work.
Kim Buchanan.
 Click for an
article published August 2004
about petsonthenet.co.nz in the NZ Womans Weekly
 Click
for video on
TVNZ Breakfast August 7 2007 about petsonthenet.co.nz
Media - More
articles in the media about us
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