Animal Finder Database Project

Several dozen sites have been established to help pets of Hurricane Katrina connect with their owners. People need to search dozens of separate databases and message forums for their pets. This project is a centralized repository, where you can search the data from all of these sites at one time.
Priority issue: An initial phase of the Project to provide a multiple search of found pet databases must be implemented ASAP. Real deadlines exist for pet owners to recover their animals. There are conflicting reports regarding how firm these dates are, but the fact remains that time is of the essence in reuniting pets with owners. -- E.Chan 12:35, 5 Oct 2005 (EDT)
Are you a Ruby programmer, web developer, or clever technical person? Then have a look at our DeveloperGuidelines to see if you can fit in and help.
- An October 15 date has been set by the State of Louisiana, after which animals can be adopted, and the original owner is assumed to have surrendered that pet.
- Pets categorized as owner surrenders, or in possession by a shelter for more than 30 days may be euthanized.
- Some animals currently fostered outside of the Gulf region can be adopted, contingent that the original owner does not claim the pet by December 15. The longer the pet stays in a foster home, the harder it will be for the foster family to relinquish the pet.

Discussion Forums

Animal Finder Project
- General Community Forum (http://groups.google.com/group/DataTrackers-AF) focusing on user requirements and information gathering
- Technical Forum (http://groups.google.com/group/katrinadev-petfinder) focusing on database design and development

Project Startup Contacts

Project Members

All mailto:katrinadev-petfinder@googlegroups~dot~com
Angelo Embuldeniya (mailto:angelo.embuldeniya@gmail.com)
Anna Lissa C
AsiaQuakeDB team
Colleen Holland
Ellen Chan - Database Schema development
~~geek-to-go.com~~ duplicate entry for Ellen Chan
jaredsaul
John Walling mailto:wallingconsulting@yahoo~dot~com
Marilyn Galfin
Nancy Bohrer - mailto:nancy.bohrer@gmail~dot~com
Rebecca Taylor
Rudi Cilibrasi
Saffron
Tiff
Tim Kuijsten

Candidate Project Members

Tech Support

Rudi and Dan at UMichigan server: internet2.edu
Rudi Cilibrasi mailto:cilibrar@gmail-dot-com
Dan mailto:kuijsten@hotmail-dot-com ?
Jon Lebkowsky Peoplefinder

Contacts for Animal Data Repositories

Dogdetective.com [1] (http://dogdetective.com/found-dog-search.cfm)
Dogster.com
Ferret-fact.org
Petfinder.com (representing HSUS, AHA, ASPCA, UAN/EARS, Best Friends)
- Rebecca Taylor, Vice President, Development
- Betsy Saul
Petharbor.com
Petneighbor.net
Pets911.com [2] (http://www.pets911.com/services/katrina/index.php)
Thehorse.com

Contacts for Animal Data Users

David Meyer http://saveapetkatrinarescue.blogspot.com/
Pasado's Safe Haven
Findkatrinapets.com
Geoff Handy from the US Humane Society
Heidi Krupp, Director, St. Francis Animal Sanctuary

Project Charter

see Animal Finder Database Project Charter

Brain Storming Data Finder Project

Feed good ideas into Draft Project Charter & Draft Data Finder Project Plan

What are the needs of Data Finders?

a) Find data in existing data sources ?
b) Store and retrieve data in managed data sources ?
c) Some combination of a) and b) ?
d) What are the special needs for disaster/emergencies?
- Before emergencies
- During emergencies
- After emergencies

Other Data Finders

collegefinder
communications finder
helpfinder (projects/locations needing help)
housingfinder (permanaent housing)
- http://www.macronet.org/homesearch.html
jobfinder
peoplefinder
- http://www.katrinalist.net/
- http://www.searchsystems.net/
- Over 34,286 Free Searchable Public Record Databases
- Free service is slow/Paid service is presumably faster
petfinder (many plus this project)
shelterfinder (temporary housing)
- http://www.shelterfinder.org/
volunteerfinder
etc.

Animal Data Finders Analysis

Business Analysis for a Animal Data Finder project

What are the available data sources for finding animals?

What is user-feedback from those using the current systems?

What is availability of ...

Data exchange schema?

People Finder Interchange Format

Preliminary Animal Finder Database Schema

For review, limited to pet locator functionality

Animal Table - rev. 7 Oct 2005, by E. Chan
- Purpose: Storage of Animal's descriptive information

Field Name	Data Type	Description
rec_ID	long integer	Auto number, unique key
source_ID	long integer	foreign key to Source table
source_REF	string	Animal's identification used by shelter or rescue organization, or record ID used by source DB
source_URL	string	URL of source page for record
listing	string	Type of listing, either 'Lost' or 'Found'. Lost is associated with Owners' listing of a lost pet. Found is associated with a shelter or rescue group housing a found pet.
animal_type	string	Selected from list - Dog, Cat, Equine, Barnyard, Bird, Reptile, Sm Mammals, Other
gender	string	Male or Female or Neutered, added 7 Oct 2005
breed	string	From list
mixed	boolean	Whether or not animal is mixed breed. added 7 Oct 2005
age	string	General category of age group - Baby, Young, Adult, Senior
size	string	General category of size - Small(less than 20lbs.), Medium(20 to 50lbs.), Large(50 to 100lbs.), X-Large(more than 100lbs.) This is the assumed healthy weight of the animal, not the current weight if it is in an emaciated state.
color	string	Predominant color of animal, selected from list - Black, Brown, White, Gray, Tan, Gold/Yellow, Red, Multi, Other
coat	string	Coat texture of animal, selected from list - Short, Long, Wire, Curly, Other
markings	large string	added 6 Oct 2005 Expanded description, include unique behaviors, unique physical traits, ailments, collar and other identifying items found on animal.
pet_name	string
last_local	string	Location found or last seen when lost, city, state, parish, zip
last_local_detail	string	Detailed Location information such as an address, or specified area/neighborhood (Dome area, near French Quarter)
current_local	string	Current location of the animal
resolved	boolean	Yes / No -- if animal listed has not been reunited with owner (or surrendered), then No
notes	large string	For volunteer finder notes, change of custody information, etc.
record_date	date	Date of record creation, to indicate how recent is the information

Source Table
- Purpose: Relational table for storage of Source information. A source can either be a shelter or rescue group or an individual in the case of a "found" pet, or the pet owner or guardian in the case of a "lost" pet.

Field Name	Data Type	Description
source_id	Autonumber	Source record ID, unique key, indexed
name_1	string	Shelter name or last name of person looking for animal
name_2	string	first name of person looking for animal
address_1	string
address_2	string
city	string
state	string
zip	string
phone	string
email	string
URL	string
MQ_link	string	MapQuest link or some other identifyer for GIS location purposes

Open Source pet database applications?

Animal Shelter Manager (http://sheltermanager.sourceforge.net/).
- It is open source and has the ability to publish data (http://sheltermanager.sourceforge.net/help/node98.html) to petfinder.com and Pets911.com.
- ASM at Petfinder.com (http://www.petfinder.com/admin/shelter_software/view_software.cgi?id=8)
- Contact: Bob Tetley mailto:bobintetley@users.sourceforge-dot-net
- Java/MySQL Desktop Application - Not Web based
Rdata (http://www.katrinahelp.info/rdata/)
- Tim is one of those folks along with Rudi - AsiaQuake DB team, who pulled together the open source people finder db - RData and is also working on helping us with a unified db. Note that RData is web-based plus retrieves info off other msg boards and db's while the Animal Shelter Manager is desktop-based however can publish data to other sites. (from Angelo)
- Ruby/MySQL? Ruby-on-Rails?

Proprietary pet database applications?

Shelterbuddy http://www.shelterbuddy.com/
- $495/Free offer for duration of emergencies
- Technology: MS SQL Server 2000 (Microsoft .NET 2006)

SWOT analysis of existing Pet Data sources

What are their Strengths?
What are their Weaknesses?
What are their Opportunities?
What are their Threats?

Requirements Analysis for Animal Data Finders

Provide functionaliy not met by existing data sources

store/retreive pet attributes for all needs
help owners report lost or stranded pets
help rescuers report stranded or stray pets
help rescuers locate stranded pets
help owners find pets in multiple shelters
help shelters track pet status, treatment, condition
help shelters share information as pets are relocated

Potential application technologies based on SWOT analysis:

Open Source / Free
Application Storage/Retrieval Candidates
- PHP/MySQL
- Ruby/Rails/MySQL
Data exchange
- RSS
- XML
- XML Schema [3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML_Schema)
- CSV
Data presentation
- Web 2.0 [4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0)[5] (http://www.whatsweb20.com/)[6] (http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,68403,00.html)
- Content Management Systems [7] (http://www.opensourcecms.com/)
- GIS: MapQuest, etc.

Proposed Animal Data Elements

Pets are a subcategory of animals
Need to include other animals in overall design

Proposed Animal Finder Data Elements

Age
All one color or mixed?  (color selection?)
At large or confined? ADD If confined, tied up outside? In house?
Height
Last known location (city or other location maybe use a google map)
Nkb: ADD in house or yard, tied up or free, Released to out of doors
Nkb: ADD  usual residence prior to hurricane
Male or Female?
Medical Conditions? (Scars, cataracts, )
Microchipped? Brand of Microchip? (necessary?)
Neutered?
Other colors
Primary coat color?
Pure breed or mixed?
Length of Hair (for dog or cat)
Tied up or loose? (Nkb: but only if in yard or house)
Type of animal (ie dog, cat, horse) 
Wearing collar?
Weight at rescue 
Weight before Hurricane 
What kind of mix or what does it look like?
Nkb: ADD Chain of custody info
Nkb: ADD Rabies tag? If so, from where
NKB: ADD ID tag? If so, what information
NKB: Reunited? (Found)

Narratives for Requirements

my dog jumped out the window

User Nkb further comments: Here is a description of a lost pet off the NOLA Board.

"I am not Pamela04 but a friend of hers. my dog jumped out the window on route 310 between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. I turned around in bumper 2 bumper traffic to look for her for 2 hours and cannot find her. She is a miniture schnauser / yorkie mix (yorkie color, schnauser hair type) she is small recently fixed and has an avid microchip. She was wearing a blue, black, and yellow collar with sunflower design with a NO SPCA rabies tag. lost in St. Charles Parish. if u know anything contact me." Our design will have to be usable for a description such as this.

and another example:

Anyone that knows the whereabouts of a large tortoise that was found walking the streets of Lakeview post Hurricane Katrina please contact me. The tortoise was found and then given to one of the animal rescue groups. If you have any information please email me

chain of custody

User Nkb comments: For the database: we need to incorporate a “chain of custody.�? Pets have been taken into local shelters and transferred and retransferred and transferred again to make room for incoming pets. The Db should have a place where owners report where they last saw their animal. That should include, house at address, or yard at address, whether the animal was chained or loose, or released to wild and location or where released. If pet was placed in another location we should collect where the pet lived in every instance. If released at another location, such as a school, pet rescue society or whatever, we need that information as well. If pet was taken to an area away from the home where the pet usually lived, that location should be collected. Then, for pets found, there should be a current location, where the animal was received, from whom the pet was received, with room for several transfers of custody. I don’t think the information will be meaningful without this feature.

Petfinder gives too broad a search range

Petfinder problems: Date: Sun, 2 Oct 2005 14:04:26 -0500, From: Nancy Bohrer mailto:nancy.bohrer@gmail-dot-com, Subject: re website, Petfinder problems, From NOLA site re petfinder, sort or search options, by crazylu, 10/2/05 14:27 ET, Re: Putting up a site for by saffron1224, 10/2/05 | Petfinder gives too broad a search range, you end up looking through so many that are not what you want but you can't filter them. Can you make it so that someone could search by type of animal, area found, and maybe a string search for other info that might be available? for example, if a pet was rescued from the house, it would be nice if the owner/searcher could enter the house number or at least the street name.

we need ... the peoplefinder solution

Here's an email I just received: I was just speaking to someone about the pet rescue situation in New Orleans and we need a solution BADLY that is similar to the peoplefinder solution that has been implemented. I worked on the peoplefinder database for a few days and I definitely think that is the only way to go as far as finding these animals and reuniting them. Is there any way to implement this along with your project or how in the world does one get something like that started? I am not wiki savvy - all I did was enter some data. I can pick up on things but I am just in a whole new world when it comes to wiki. Any thoughts? I was down in NO with the pet rescue last week and the need is critical. Jon Lebkowsky

peoplefinder solution => animalfinder solution: PFIF => AFIF

AFIF Animal Finder Interchange Format: An AnimalFinder solution modelled on PeopleFinder is crucial to a successful effort to provide animal/pet finder capabilities in emergency/post-emergency situations.
Goal: Combine Animal Finder Database (AFDB) with AFIF capability
AFDB-AFIF Benefits:
- Get pet data organizations to participate
- Get rescue organizations to participate
- Get pet shelter application vendors to participate
- Get volunteers involved with functional AFDB-AFIF
  - Provide real world information
  - Provide Testing and Quality Assurance

--Jwalling 15:06, 4 Oct 2005 (EDT)

Animal Finder Database Project Plan

Terminology

AFDB: Animal Finder Database
AFIF: Animal Finder Interchange Format

Methods & tools for development

Candidate methods & tools for development

Planning, Analysis, Design, Construction, & Maintenance

Repositories of Open Source Software Softwre
1. Open Source Software Engineering Tools (http://design.tigris.org/)
2. SourceForge Software Development (http://sourceforge.net/softwaremap/trove_list.php?form_cat=45)
Database tools
1. MySQL Migration Toolkit (http://www.mysql.com/products/tools/migration-toolkit/)

Selected methods & tools for development

SVN Version Control with Subversion
1. Subversion (http://subversion.tigris.org/)
2. SVN Ebook Documentation (http://svnbook.red-bean.com/en/1.1/svn-book.html)
3. TortoiseSVN (http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/) Windows-friendly Shell Extension for Subversion - Win2k SP2 or WinXP or later, IE5.5 or later

Target technologies for Application

Developer Guidelines
Database
1. MySQL [8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySQL)[9] (http://magooswisewords.com/MagoosBook/MySQL/mysql_01.htm)[10] (http://www.mysql.com/)
Programming/Scripting Language
1. HTML/XHTML/CSS
2. Javascript
3. XML: XML Schema/XSD, RSS, XML-RPC (Communication)
4. Ruby [11] (http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/)[12] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_programming_language)
5. PHP?
Framework
1. KatrinaHelp.info Wiki
2. Ajax? [13] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajax_%28programming%29)
  1. Ajax Scripts [14] (http://script.aculo.us/)
3. Ruby on Rails [15] (http://www.rubyonrails.com/)[16] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_on_Rails)
  1. Model/View/Controller (MVC) architecture [17] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MVC)[18] (http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-rubyrails/)
  2. Documentation (http://documentation.rubyonrails.com/)
  3. One Click Installer (http://rubyinstaller.rubyforge.org/wiki/wiki.pl) for Windows (other platforms in the pipeline)
  4. Ajax on Rails? [19] (http://rails.rubyonrails.com/classes/ActionView/Helpers/JavaScriptHelper.html)[20] (http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/06/09/rails_ajax.html?page=1)
Communication
1. HTTP
2. FTP
3. XMLHttp? [21] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMLHttpRequest)[22] (http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2005/02/09/xml-http-request.html)
4. RSS [23] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_(file_format))
5. XML-RPC? [24] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML-RPC)[25] (http://www.xmlrpc.com/)
6. XML Schema/XSD? [26] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML_Schema)[27] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XML_Schema_Definition)[28] (http://xmlzoo.net/xsd/)[29] (http://www.w3.org/TR/xmlschema-0/)[30] (http://www.stylusstudio.com/xml_schema_tutorial.html)

? => TO BE DETERMINED

Development Platforms for Application

Database Application (Ruby on Rails/SVN repository)
1. rPet (http://www.katrinahelp.info/rdata/pets/search) AnimalFinder
2. View code http://svn.berlios.de/wsvn/aidwatch/trunk/katrinahelp.info/rails/
3. Check out code $: svn co svn://svn.berlios.de/aidwatch/trunk/katrinahelp.info
4. Database schema (http://svn.berlios.de/wsvn/aidwatch/trunk/katrinahelp.info/rails/db/?rev=0&sc=0) - rails/db at berlios.de SVN
Mockup Forms (http://www.geek-to-go.com/animalfinder/frmquery.html) AnimalFinder

Project Stages

Startup Planning

see Project Charter

Analysis

AFDB
AFIF

Design

AFDB
- Database schema designs
  - Preliminary draft for review, complete by Ellen Chan
AFIF

Construction

Test data entry system:
- Katrina List Network: Uniting Pets and their People
  - http://www.geek-to-go.com/animalfinder/animal_qry.html
  - Developer: Ellen Chan
PeopleFinder table structure for 'Persons'
- http://www.katrinahelp.info/~cilibrar/pfifproj/create.sql
ShelterFinder Database Table Structures:
- Locations (http://katrinahelp.info/wiki/index.php/ShelterFinder_code_page#Table_structure_for_table_.60locations.60)
- Location Notes (http://katrinahelp.info/wiki/index.php/ShelterFinder_code_page#Table_structure_for_table_.60locationNotes.60)
- Users (http://katrinahelp.info/wiki/index.php/ShelterFinder_code_page#Table_structure_for_table_.60users.60)
Peter Mika has code a PFIF converted to RDF:
- http://prauw.cs.vu.nl:8080/pfif

---

Delivery

Maintenance

Animal Finder Directory

Animal Rescue Resources Wiki in use by the public
Animal Finder Project Wiki in development
1. Animal Finder Assignments ++
2. Animal Finder Contributors Pages ++
3. Animal Finder Coordination ++ Provides a high-level view of the status and activities for the various projects under the Animal Finder Project umbrella
4. Animal Finder Data Entry Tips ++
5. Animal Finder Funding Plan ++ A plan to explain the value of this project and pursue funding to build out these tools and services.
6. Animal Finder Future Developments
7. Animal Finder Future Users Page
8. Animal Finder Interchange Format or AFIF
9. Animal Finder Mission ++
10. Animal Finder Outreach ++ Outreach/marketing and press information about the project
11. Animal Finder Outreach Lists ++
12. Animal Finder Privacy Statement ++
13. Animal Finder Task List ++
14. Animal Finder Tech ++ automate data interchange between animal shelter databases
15. Animal Finder Tech Structured Data Sets
16. Animal Finder Volunteer ++ volunteer effort to input unstructured data by hand
17. Animal Finder Volunteer Instructions ++
18. Animal Shelter Finder ++ project gathering shelters and shelter contact info
19. Animal Shelter Finder Usability Issues ++
20. Animal Shelter Local Coordination ++
Animal Finder Database Project Application in development
1. Animal Finder Database ProjectMain Wiki Page
  1. Animal Finder Database Project Charter
2. Animal Finder Database Project Forums
  1. Technical Forum (http://groups.google.com/group/katrinadev-petfinder)
  2. General Forum (http://groups.google.com/group/DataTrackers-AF) - for community involvement
Animal Finder Templates:
1. Animal Finder Directory (this template)
2. Animal Finder Menu ++
3. AnimalFinder-stub
4. Animal Finder Project Participation

Notes:

++ Major Revisions from PeopleFinder to AnimalFinder are pending
Redirect Info (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Redirect)
Stub categories (http://www.katrinahelp.info/wiki/index.php/Category:Stub_categories)
Source Katrina PeopleFinder Project

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