12 THE NEW BARKER www.TheNewBarker.com reality sound bites. That’s the tagline for Winter Park Lost Pets, a free web-based service that helps reunite lost pets with their families.The organization hit a milestone in July with the reunion of the 1,700th pet and its family.That’s a lot of happy tails over nine years, when it was created by Judy Charuhas and her neighbor, Shelley Heistand. It all began with aYorkie named Lucy who escaped from her yard. Helping with the search were Judy and Shelley, who were creating, printing and posting flyers all over town. Lucy was eventually found and reunited with her family. But, the two neighbors agreed, there had to be a better way to search for and find lost pets. A pet owner who loses their dog, cat, rabbit, bird or whatever animal they own reports the missing pet on the website. Once a description and picture of the pet is posted, an alert is sent to about 20,000 people in the area via email, plus the nearly 5,000 followers on Facebook and Twitter. Then, neighbors, firefighters, police officers, postal workers and animal-lovers keep a lookout for the pet, and report it as “found” when they locate the lost animal. Often, the person who finds the pet holds on to them for a short time before they can be reconnected with the owner.A family is made whole once more and usually pays it forward by joining the ever-growing email list. WinterParkLostPets.com 407.718.9222 It Only Takes One Open Gate To Lose A Pet, And A Whole Community to Find It. Marion County Animal Services wants to become a no-kill facility. The main goal to attaining the designation is to have “no healthy animals euthanized if a safe and appropriate life outcome can be achieved.” In preparation for becoming a no-kill shelter, officials have also decided that there will be no more flea market sales of dogs and cats.They are also planning a community cat management program to help address the feral cat issue, while the shelter looks for ways to expand its spay/neuter program.The shelter, which was over-capacity in early August, placed a moratorium on owner-surrenders. Officials said that managing admissions is a temporary strategy to prepare the shelter and the pet population for its new direction.The ordinance came about as a result of an assessment done by the University of Florida.At press time, Rowdy, a two-year-old Shepherd mix, weighing in at 47 pounds, was still available for adoption at the shelter. He’s a good boy who will sit for treats. Marion County Animal Services. 5701 SE 66th Street, Ocala. 352.671.8700. The theme for the 16th Annual Puppy Love Benefit was “Stayin Alive - A Disco Party.” Thanks to supporters, who raised $78,000 for Pet Pal Animal Shelter during the event, more animals like Gigi (below) will continue to be fostered and cared for.The limited intake shelter adopts out between 750 and 800 a year.Sponsors for the event, held in May at The Historic Coliseum in St. Petersburg, included The New Barker, Paws Inn Paradise, Pet FoodWarehouse, Barks & Recreation, and Rogan & Associates. Pet Pal Animal Shelter 405 22nd Street South, St. Petersburg, 727.328.7738.Their low cost clinic is at 1900 34th Street South, St. Petersburg. 727.328.7729.PetPalAnimalShelter.com Left to right: Winter Park Lost Pet co-founders Shelley Heistand and Judy Charuhas and volunteer Shamp Davie with their pets Sparky, Lily and Olive. Whether You’re A Doggie Or Whether You’re Kittie, You’re Stayin’ Alive. Photograph by Dewitt For Love Photography. Killing A Healthy or Treatable Animal Is Never An Act of Kindness or Compassion.