|
Pet
FBI (Pets Found By Internet) Annual
Report 2004 This is a summary of our activities and some important statistics for the year 2004. Our activities fall into two major categories: 1) www.petfbi.org: our lost-and-found web site and database. Administering, improving and expanding its use 2) OUTREACH: our program to assist elderly and disadvantaged people and caretakers of feral colonies to spay and neuter their animals. Rabies vaccinations must also be part of this effort. Although "rescue" is not the primary focus of OUTREACH, it is a natural outgrowth of it. OUTREACH volunteers try to rescue and place adoptable animals whenever necessary or possible and to provide veterinary care in emergency situations. Pet FBI and Colony Cats and Dogs are sister organizations. Lost-and-found web site and database: www.petfbi.org Here is a summary of statistics regarding the
database: Number of reports
still posted in early January, 2005
1,498 Number of reports
chosen to be hidden by users:
.428 Total of reports
submitted in 2004
1,926
DOGS: Lost 389 Found 270 Reunited 169 CATS: Lost 335 Found ... 187 Reunited ..122 BIRDS:
Lost
14
Found
5
Reunited
..3 TOTALS: Lost ..732 Found 461 Reunited .294 There were also 2 Small Mammal reports 1
found chinchilla and 1 lost ferret. As a percentage of viewable reports
submitted, 20% are updated to reflect a successful reunion. (294 out of1498).
However, this figure is misleadingly low. Many users do not update their
reports. Also, it must be assumed that a substantial number of the hidden
reports represent successful reunions. Another factor that affects the assessment of
how many lost animals are successfully reunited with their guardians is this:
many of the strays that people report as found, were not truly lost,
to start with, but rather abandoned, dumped, by unthinking or
irresponsible people. Unfortunately, this is a widespread practice, especially
as regards cats. There is a myth that cats can fend for themselves on the
street, but in fact they suffer cruelly die prematurely. Use of the Database by County Although no funds are expended on advertising
or marketing, use of the Pet FBI web site throughout Ohio continues to grow. In
previous years it was relatively uncommon to find reports from outside of
Franklin County. Now they are being submitted on an almost daily basis. We now
have County Coordinator volunteers in ten major Ohio counties. Unfortunately,
two-thirds of the active reports from 2004 were from Franklin County. This
indicates that we must do more to publicize Pet FBI outside of Franklin County. Site Statistics According to the server log for the month of December, 2004, there were110,259 "hits", an average of 3,556 per day. Visitor sessions numbered 20,510,an average of 413 daily. The average visitor session length was 7 minutes and 50 seconds. There were 5,123 unique visitors, up from 4,325 for the comparable period a year ago, an increase of 18%. Of the 5,123 unique visitors in December, 967 visited more than once. Use of the Pet FBI site has greatly expanded since our start in 1998, consequently, our successful reunions are also increasing. Public Events In order to support other community
organizations, to reach a greater public and also to help raise some funds, Pet
FBI volunteers participated in a number of events in the Columbus area:
Worthington Pooch Parade, Friends For Life Festival, Dog Days of Westerville,
and Citizens for Humane Actions Canine Carnival,. We also reserved the
Community Booth at Easton during the Christmas season and were able to sell
crafts items produced by our volunteers. Fundraisers In September we hosted a garden party which
was attended by over 100 people. We kept our costs to a minimum by borrowing
tents, tables, chairs, etc and we prepared and served the food ourselves.
Volunteer Christine Fraser Ramsey, a Celtic harpist, provided the entertainment.
The garden party featured a silent auction and a 50/50. We raised almost $3,000
and hope to make it an annual event. Pet
FBI OUTREACH In October of 2002, Pet FBI expanded its mission to include a spay/neuter assistance program. Some of our most dedicated volunteers had been actively engaged in TNR (trap-neuter Release) and were using their own funds. They target elderly and low-income people, and people who are caretakers for colonies of feral cats. We decided to support their efforts by using whatever funds we could muster to pay the mounting vets bills. In calendar year 2004, Mona McKinniss and Noel Wisecup, with the help of Sandy Colombini and a several other volunteers, helped people obtain spaying or neutering for 728 cats and dogs and found good homes for 36 dogs and 80 cats. These are animals who would otherwise have gone on reproducing and creating more and more offspring for whom there is no place. They would have suffered the usual fate of unwanted surplus animals: disease, injury, starvation, thirst, cold they might have been victimized by cruel people if they had fallen into the wrong hands; they might have been euthanized in a shelter. These numbers are testimony to the fact that a few truly dedicated people can make a difference. We cannot exaggerate the importance of this work and or the dedication of the volunteers who are truly out there "in the trenches". For a firsthand account, just click on "OUTREACH: What we do " Income and Expenses and a New Treasurer! Since 2002, we have posted our accounts on
our web site. Go to: http://www.petfbi.org/accounts.htm.
A major new development in our
accounting is that it has been taken over most fortunately by Christine Fraser
Ramsey, an auditor by profession (and an accomplished Celtic harpist besides,
and an aspiring Episcopalian minister!). We are extremely fortunate to have
Christines professional assistance in keeping our accounts. She has also
kindly accepted the position of Treasurer on our Board of Trustees. In 2004, we more than doubled our income and this will be the first year in which we will have to file IRS form 990, since we passed the $25,000 mark. Here is a summary for 2004: Income Adoptions
..$6,730 Donations
.
$33,328 It should be noted that about a third of this
sum was contributed by members of the Board of Trustees and the remainder came
almost entirely from contributions by people who were helped by OUTREACH. Grant From Kenneth A. Scott Charitable Trust Sale of ID tags ...$356 Sale of Craft Items (bandannas, pet pads, catnip pillows ..$1,271 Xmas stockings, garage sale, etc) Payment by Salvation Army for standing kettles . $678 Gross
Income
.$46,401 Note: This is intended as an overview, for
a proper accounting go to the accounts page on our web site.) Expenses: Office and administrative
expenses
..
.$698 Fundraising costs and
registrations
.$638 Medical
care
..$48,200 TOTAL Expenses
.$49,874 OUTLOOK Pet FBI continues to grow its use and
acceptance, largely by word of mouth. In 2004, we will continue our efforts to
reach out to the Ohio community as a central source of information for lost and
found pets and as a resource for people who need help to have the animals in
their care spayed or neutered. As the OUTREACH program grows, so does the
need for additional funding. We will continue to encourage the web site visitors
to make voluntary donations, but we will hold fast to the policy of keeping the
use of the site and the database a free community service. To fund OUTREACHs veterinary costs, we
will seek funding from granting organizations and we will continue to market our
crafts items at public events, and inaugurate other fundraising activities. We
plan to sponsor a spring fund-raising event this year in addition to the fall
garden party. In 2005, we will participate in the Ohio
Veterinary Medical Association Conference as a means of reaching the community
beyond Franklin County. We also in the process of developing some
innovative pet products with a view toward Internet commerce. We feel that we
need to provide a more reliable flow of funds to meet our veterinary expenses. Given the limitations of volunteer assistance
and especially of funding, we do not plan to increase the level of our spay/
neuter assistance, unless we succeed in being awarded a substantial grant.
Although the demand is limitless, our resources,
unfortunately, are finite. Founder and Director, Pet FBI . |