I have heard it said the Clovis Animal Shelter should be open on Saturdays.

While that might well increase their traffic, I dare say being able to see their fur balls while wearing your fuzzy slippers in the comfort of your own home 24/7 is a pretty good option too.

So forget the ride in the car and pull the family around the computer for a tour of the shelter at www.clovis.petfinder.com

When you find the snout you can’t live without, then you can all jump in the car and head down to meet them in person.

For example, here’s Luke…

A neutered, microchipped male husky with all his shots, Luke is one of many dogs listed on the site and available at the shelter.

“He is a very affectionate boy and will follow you just about anywhere. Luke loves to spend time with his people and really likes children. He is good with other dogs. Luke will probably not do well in a home with cats. He is crate-trained and appears to be house trained as he has had not had any accidents so far. He knows basic commands and is learning more every day. He is very trainable, as he wants very much to please his humans. Luke needs a home where he is not the only dog and where he will be a part of his human family as well.”

Animal Control Officer Larry Rogers said volunteers Cody Johnson and Deon Van Kuren come by the shelter every day to photograph new arrivals. He said Johnson, Van Kuren and Jonathan La Vine work to keep the listings current and accurate.

The photos are updated online daily with a description of the animals for the public to browse.

I discovered petfinder.com more than five years ago when I was searching for my stolen rats.

At that time the site was used primarily in larger cities as a connection point for finding adoptable critters.

I only learned in recent months the Clovis Animal Shelter submits listings to the site as well.

When we ran the first story about the wayward ferret and a story about small town animal control in the same day, we posted the link to the shelter’s listing and you, the readers must have seen it, because I got an email from La Vine today.

“I just saw the PetFinder stats for last month and there was a direct impact from the link that you placed on the CNJ site.

If the exposure that those animals got as a result of the stories that you wrote about the ferret led to even one adoption that would have not otherwise occurred, I believe that your time and effort was worth so much more than just a feel good story. Thank you so much for following this story as it progressed,” he said.

According to La Vine, the shelter’s site views increased by more than 300 the day the links were posted on our stories, and continued a steady increase over the following days while the ferret story was listed among our “Most Commented” stories.

Well here you go Jonathan, let’s see if anyone missed the link the first time around… www.clovis.petfinder.com

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