by David Hakala
Six in 10 Americans own pets of some sort, according to a 2006 Gallup poll. Dogs and cats are the runaway favorites. (Turtles don’t “run” away.) Among pet owners, 73 percent own a dog and 49 percent own a cat. Among all Americans, 27 percent own a dog but not a cat, 12 percent own a cat but not a dog, 17 percent own both, and 3 percent own pets other than cats or dogs. So it’s not surprising that there are lots of places online to talk about pets, pet supplies, and pets for sale.
PetLovers.com is a domain name to die for. Founded in 1999, this free forum has seen hundreds of thousands of conversations. There are specialty forums for dogs, cats, farm animals, reptiles, birds, aquatic pets, and “small animals” such as hamsters, rats, mice, and other rodents. People share photos of their pets in poses so sweet they’ll give you diabetes.
PetsHub.com, also online since 1999, has more than 35,000 members as of this writing. Its forums cover birds, cats, chinchillas, dogs, ferrets, fish, gerbils, Guinea pigs, hamsters, hedgehogs, horses, mice, pot-bellied pigs, rats, rabbits, and tortoises.
Kingsnake.com is the only name you need to know if, like me, you love cold-blooded pets. Founded in 1997 by Jeff Barringer just to discuss the grey-banded king snake, it has grown to be the world’s largest and most diverse community and marketplace for snakes, lizards, amphibians, insects, spiders, scorpions, millipedes, and every other pet that makes normal people cry, ‘Oh… my… God!” Here you can post pictures of found critters and someone will be able to identify them. Your new ball python won’t eat? Solutions galore are here. Vendors of everything from custom-made enclosures to frozen rodents and live crickets are here. Private breeders offer much better selection, healthier animals, and lower prices than retail pet stores. Barringer has branched out into PetHobbyist.com, which has many subsidiary sites for dogs, cats, horses, and more traditional pets.
Looking to buy a pet? Please, try to adopt an unwanted animal first. Millions of pets of all kinds are euthanized or abandoned to die cruelly every year. These forums and others will help you rescue a precious life and get a pet companion you will cherish for years to come.
David Hakala has perpetrated technology tutorials since 1988 in addition to committing tech journalism, documentation, Web sites, marketing collateral, and profitable prose in general. His complete rap sheet can be seen at http://www.linkedin.com/in/dhakala