I started the Facebook page about four weeks ago. Part of me wishes I’d thought things through for a while longer, but a large part of me wishes more that I’d started a while ago. Like, the moment it occurred to me. I mean, between the lost and found pet stories of friends of friends, and the fact that I’m still discovering more and more decentralized sites people are posting their info to, it seems like I should be able to help a few people.
And, thankfully, known pets lost in College Park have been few. I do see posts for pets in other neighborhoods, and I’ve enlarged the scope enough to enfold situations over in 32803 in the Lake Formosa area behind Orange Avenue, and up in the Fairview Shores/32810 area. It is close by so people who live here probably pass through there regularly anyway.
I want to get some info printed up on business card or postcard size paper, to leave on community bulletin boards, at all the local vet offices, groomers, and to share with anyone else in the community. But this may be a slow build. After all, it is a very localized project, which is why I think it has a chance of doing some good.
What’s discouraged me the most is I keep finding more and more sites, and Facebook pages, dedicated to lost and found pets. Some are national in scope – who has time to scan through 99% out of state animals in order to find the one or two close enough to help? I found at least four semi-overlapping Facebook pages recently. All great well intentioned people, but they are clearly not thinking as I do – as a systems person, I think of ways to make information flow more efficient. And on Facebook, it’s difficult to search posts by age, location, and date lost or found.
Another discouraging thing is a poorly written message. People confuse the intention of “Lost” versus “Found” even. If your post begins Lost, I assume you are the person who lost the animal, but some will post a found animal under Lost, because, well, it is Lost, but your relationship to it is you’re the finder, so it’s Found.
More on this in the next post.
Lost and Found Pets of Orlando's College Park 