Recently, I have helped a little as a Best Friends remote volunteer trying to find people's Katrina pets among the various websites and databases.

This has been really frustrating because many, many, many of the entries have next to no description (ie: small, black cat) and half of them don't even have a sex listed.

Is it really that hard to come up with a full description and sex? Sometimes it is.

I have been volunteering for years at an all-species sanctuary near my house. Among other creatures they have several hundred cats. A couple months ago I went into one cat run that had 13 black cats. (We are not superstitious).

As I stared at each one to see if I could come up with something besides "black cat" I started to panic a little because they all looked so much alike. But when I took my time to concentrate on each one, a lot of times I could come up with something unique. (I have a long ways to go to become good at this).

This black cat had 3 white hairs under his chin. That black cat had round ears and so forth.

Anybody going to help animals in disasters needs to know how to properly sex them and how to properly id them and how to include every possible scrap of information about their physical description (even if this info is held behind password areas and not available to the general public).

I am searching for resources that give examples of every possible way of identifying animals -- breed, fur type, markings etc.

I have found some good websites which I will post soon, and I have found some really good color photos and id systems in the books
Legacy of the Cat and Legacy of the Dog.

Apart from full-color breed photos, they have several pages of different types of eye shapes, head shapes, ears, markings. (If you go to Amazon and click on the BARGAIN BOOKS link you can get them for $10.00 -- otherwise they are like $20).

I am looking for more resources for my own use and to have at the sanctuary I volunteer with in Virginia so people can practice with the cats there.

I think anybody who has gone into the databases to search for Katrina animals would agree with me. They did a good job getting the databases up, but the information fields are not filled out. Either people were afraid to make an ID mistake or they didn't take the time -- in any event that has to change.

Anybody know of good ID resources? Especially for body shape and markings, mixed-breeds and those that are often misidentified?

Here are some of the resources I said I would post.

The people going into flood waters to pull dogs off roofs are amazing. But so are the people behind the scenes. The people doing the data entry and administration part of the rescue can make the difference between a pet being reunited with his family or not. So take the time now to start practicing identifying and coming up with complete descriptions of the animals around you.

Also check out these websites. (Anybody have more?)

This is a GREAT site. Is that dog really a Pit Bull or Rottweiler?

The website put up by Coalition of Human Advocates for K9s & Owners has photos of 20 animals. You click on the photos of the dogs you think are a pure or mixed Pit Bull or Rottie. When you click on the photo you will learn if you were right or not. You will probably be surprised at your results.

http://www.chako.org/breedtest.html


Do you know what a Goldendoodle is? A cross between a Golden Retriever and a Poodle. I saw several of these dogs in the Katrina databases. Don’t be upset that this site seems to be breeder-oriented. It has very good photos and I haven’t found anything better yet.

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/goldendoodle.htm

Is that a Brittany Spaniel? This site put up by American Brittany Rescue has lots of good photos of Brittany Spaniels and also has photos of the dogs most often mixed up with Brittany Spaniels.

http://www.americanbrittanyrescue.org/more/breed_ID.html

What about ferrets? Did you know that “Colors and patterns sometimes change from season to season?” (Apparently they also sleep so soundly that they can appear to be dead. Important to know if you find one.) This site gives the basic classification for ferret color categories. No photos but maybe some Ferret expert has a good resource for that?
http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesArticle/id-1676,subcat-PETS.html

Tabby cats – do you know the difference between Spotted Tabbies, Ticked Tabbies, Mackeral Tabbies? According to this site there are 40 variations on the Tabby theme. It includes really good, color photos and black and white drawings of tabby patterns. This is a great site with lots of photos. http://www.penmarric.ns.ca/Pedigree/catbreeds/tabbycat.htm#tabby

If he has black on his tongue he is a Chow or a Chow mix, right? Hold on. Samoyeds also have black on tongue. The Samoyed Rescue Alliance’s site has some good photos of Samoyeds that show eye, ear, and coat variations – among other things.

Samoyeds found in shelters are often misidentified as Chow mixes or Husky mixes. If someone is looking for a Samoyed or a Samoyed mix and the volunteer entered the dog into the database as a Husky mix the dog won’t find his people.

http://www.samoyedrescue.com/variations.htm

(Note -- if you are planning on going to a rescue area at any point, consider printing the info on these sites out and taking it with you to help id the animals).

a microchip

So I probably should have titled my post "resources for breed identification" instead of animal id.

Microchips are great -- but they are not foolproof. So it's good to have multiple backups of identification and not rely on just one.

That said, maybe there should be a forum here that just deals with microchips. It could contain info on the best microship to use (there are several types, aren't there?), the availability of scanners at shelters and in disaster areas, etc. Not all the shelters around me have them -- and at least one shelter had staff that didn't know how to use the one they had and killed a chipped dog.

My vet charges $40/chip and I have multiple pets. Just because I would pay it doesn't mean somebody else would or could.

What about posting lists, by state, of where people can get free or low-cost microchips and we can all start volunteering now at the clinics? Alteratively, what about going house-to-house in poorer areas or areas where they might not bring their animals to the vet to get chipped and chipping the animals at their home.

The chips can be registered at that time by the people/groups doing the work just in case the family never gets around to it.

This gets the animals into the system, is a PR opportunity for the groups, and the people could ask questions or be given concrete info that could help them in an emergency.

My posts tend to be on the long side, I know, but 98 percent of the info on disaster preparation and planning I have found is just general bullet points.

Can UAN get free or low-cost chip clinics started? I'll volunteer in central VA, northern VA and DC.