Here is an Eagle Scout project idea sent by one of our volunteers. As with all Eagle project proposals, a Scout applicant must get approval from his unit leader, unit committee and district advancement committee before starting work. The posting of this idea is not a guarantee of project approval:

The entire Austin/Travis County Committee would be exceptionally well served if a Scout or Scout troop would work with Austin Animal Services and the Austin Neighborhood Council to create a "lost - found" pet alert network serving the Austin community through its 200 or so neighborhood associations.
 
Right now, it's a haphazard system to attempt to reunite lost pets with their guardians. People post ads on Craigslist and signs around their neighborhoods (sometimes). If the pet ends up at the Austin shelter, its photograph and very basic information is posted on the shelter's home page. But the information is very basic ... you have no idea where the animal was found. If you have a black lab, well, you know how hard it is to tell them apart just by photograph. If you're up in Pflugerville, for example, your animal can end up at the Austin shelter.  If you're in upper northwest Austin (as I am), your pet can end up in the Pflugerville shelter (which many people don't even know exists).
 
Ideally, the Scout/Scout troop could work with the Austin Neighborhood Council,  www.ancweb.org/na_links.htm, to get a lost - found pet alert network going in each neighborhood. Austin Animal Services staff/volunteers could have a contact list available so when a lost pet comes in, they could check the address against the ANC list, find the appropriate neighborhood association(s), and send out an email to them, alerting them to the fact that a pet found in their neighborhood is at the shelter.

A young woman in San Antonio started one for her neighborhood association that illustrates how each neighborhood association, if appropriately organized, could make life so much better for pets (and relieve tremendous stress on Austin's new shelter). Plus, such a network could save taxpayers a lot of money by perhaps keeping pets out of the shelter entirely, as happens in Hunters Creek. For details, see www.hunterscreeksatx.org/pet_registry.asp.
 
If the Scouts really want to do a great project, they could establish a comprehensive online network like www.trianglelostpets.com. 

Scouts

Dec 29, 2011