Instructions for Using the Pet Registry




If you regularly use a computer, you have the basic skills to use the Pet Registry.
If not, just get someone who has the basic skills to help you.

Don't be afraid to do anything. You can't hurt the program. If you have a problem, just re-enter and try again.

[If these instructions start to seem complicated (which instructions often do), just get into the program and use your intuition. You'll do fine. When you've gotten into it, you'll find it's really easy to use. If you still need help, let us know by sending an e-mail to pet-registry@humaneheart.com. We'll get back with you to get you over any difficulty.]

The on-screen selection pad is the place to start. It's the deep blue area that contains the two selection columns.

[Note: "Click on" means move the mouse pointer over the object to be clicked on, and press the left mouse button, or tap the mouse pad. On a mobile device, it means to tap on the object.]

[Note: While the Pet Registry may work on some mobile devices, it is currently verified for computers only. "Apps" for all mobile devices will be developed as the Pet Registry gains support. Your support will also make it possible for planned upgrades to be implemented.]



I. Register My Pet


The first action you will need to perform for your pet is to get your pet registered. "Registered" just means getting your pet's file created. There is no formal licensing transaction. The Pet Registry is free for anyone to use. Donations are accepted. [The program needs monetary resources to continue to operate, to improve, and to expand into other areas where such a program is needed. Please consider helping to support this program.]

On the on-screen selection pad, simply click on "Register My Pet". Then, click on the Kind of Animal. That takes you to the data entry form.

Just click into the data entry fields, and enter the indicated information.

Notice the "Confidential" check boxes next to the owner's name, address, phone number(s), and e-mail address(es). If checked, the corresponding data is not shared, and it is not down-loaded with the rest of the data to users' computers (or other devices). However, it is accessible to Pet Registry Operations, to be used when needed.

Now, about the mail routing number (zip code), or optional map numbers: You will need to enter your zip code, or map numbers, or both zip code and map numbers.

The Pet Registry currently only recognizes zip codes for the United States and its territories. If you have a five digit U.S. zip code, enter it, Otherwise, use map numbers (see below). Don't worry if you don't know the map numbers (latitude and longitude) for your location. You get them by using the map function of the Pet Registry. The "Map" routine inserts them into the fields provided for them. You don't enter them.]


(a) Map Numbers (Optional)

The Pet Registry uses the "Google Maps" utility.

To use this option, Click on the link that says "Click Here" in the box next to the zip code entry space.

When the data entry block appears, click on "Get Map". An instruction pop-up appears. The instructions are for after you click on "Go To Map". Essentially, the instructions say the following:

Click and hold the left mouse button down. Use the mouse pad [or move the mouse, or use the means you have on your device] to move the map within the frame until your location is in view.

Use the + and - zoom controls to zoom in and out as needed. [The zoom controls are in the lower right corner of the map.] When you have your location within the map frame, position the "hand" cursor over it, and click (or tap).

With the click, the map will disappear and the form will re-appear with the map position numbers inserted. If you slip, with the map frame in the wrong place, just Get Map again and proceed. [The last map frame you had in view re-appears each time you Get Map.]

To clear the map numbers: "Get Map", "Go to Map", and press the Esc key.


Next, enter either your phone number(s) or e-mail address(es), or both.


(b) Pin Number

You must have a pin (personal identification number) to be used to access your pet's data for editing or deleting. And, you must remember it. If you decide to change your pin at a later time, you can do that in the "Edit" process.

A pin must be four characters. The characters may be taken from the set of digits 0-9, and the set of alphabetical letters of upper case (capital letter) and lower case (small letter). The pin is "case sensitive", meaning that when you enter your pin at a later time to edit your pet's data, the case of each alphabetical letter used must be the same as in the original pin you create.

So, decide what your pin is going to be, and enter it in the "4-digit Pin Number" data entry field.


Next, enter the information pertaining to your pet, beginning with the pet's name.

The Pet Registry uses the information you enter here to assist a person who may find your pet if he/she becomes missing. Note: The choices don't cover every possible option, but there is enough to do a good job of singling out a lost pet and putting that pet at the top of the ranked list so that he/she comes first in the report. [The choices will be adjusted so the most efficient set can be found as the Pet Registry evolves. In the search routine (which will come further on in these instructions), it is not necessarily expected that the finder will use every descriptive set. [One or more may not apply.] The resulting search report will indicate the percent of choices that are matched. If only five choices are chosen, and if a pet on the lost list matches all five, then that pet has a 100% match. The more choices that can be selected, the better.]

Notice the set of "Status:" "radio buttons". Be sure to select the appropriate one. If left unselected, "OK" is used.


(c) ID Numbers

The Pet Registry accepts any number. It doesn't matter if the number is currently active. It only matters that the number is a number that may be found on, or attached to, your pet if your pet becomes missing.

The way you enter an ID number is important. Separate numbers with a forward slash / . You may include a descriptive phrase, but if/when you do, put it after the number, and separate it from the number with a comma. For example: 123 123 123 123 123, micro-chip/ 12345, rabies vaccination registration.

[ID numbers are used for matching in searches, but they do not appear on the lost/found search reports.]

[Upon registering a pet, the pet is assigned a Pet Registry ID number: PR-ID, which is given at the end of the "Register My Pet" routine. (It also appears in the "Edit" routine). There is no need for this number to be in the ID number field. If a missing pet is found with the PR-ID on the pet, when the finder enters it as part of the search criteria in the "Search" routine, the Pet Registry makes the match and puts the pet at top of the rank in the "Search" report.]


Next, you may enter medical and first responder information. Neither appears on the lost/found search reports.


The "Pet Description Dialog" does appear on the reports.

It can include any information you care to enter (including information you may care to copy from the medical and first responder fields). For example: age, height, weight, breed or breed mix, coat pattern details, scars or other marks, qualifying any of the pet descriptive information you entered as a "radio button" or "check box", etc.

Please enter the information as concisely as possible to conserve database memory.


(d) Including a Picture

The Pet Registry allows you to "up load" a single photograph from your computer or other device. Acceptable picture formats are: .jpeg (.jpg), .png, .gif, .bmp.

The picture should be tightly framed on the pet so details can be easily seen. A composite, created from more than one photograph, is recommended. It might include a tight frame on the pet's face, and a full-body profile. Personal computers generally include MicroSoft Paint, a picture editor. Of course, any competent picture editor will serve. Such programs can be used not only to create a composite picture, but also to reduce the size of your pictures.

NOTICE: The Pet Registry can up-load large picture files, but it may take an excessively long period of time to do it, depending on the speed of your Internet connection. It's best to reduce the size of your picture, and also consequently the file size, by reducing the size of your picture before you up-load it with the Pet Registry program.

[Note: When a picture is up loaded from the "Edit" routine to replace a previously up-loaded picture, the previous picture may remain a time (even hours) before the new picture takes its place. That is caused by the way the Internet Host Server for the Pet Registry works. It's not a fault in the Pet Registry.]

To enter a picture, click on the bar that says: "Click This Bar to Attach Photograph". A button that says: "Browse" will appear. Click on it. A local navigation pop-up will appear to let you find a picture on your computer (or other device). When you have located the picture you want to up-load to the Pet Registry, click on it, then click on the "Open" button. The pop-up will disappear, and the picture file name will appear next to the "Browse" button. Another button appears so you may "Cancel Selected Photo", if necessary.


When you have completed the form, click on "Submit Form". At that point, the picture, if one was selected, will be up-loaded.

Then, a pop-up will appear that gives the assigned Pet Registry ID number [PR-ID]. The number also appears in the "edit" routine. If you pet becomes lost, and has the PR-ID (on a tag, etc.), someone who may find your pet can enter the number into the Pet Registry "Search" routine. The Pet Registry can definitely identify your pet from the PR_ID. So, it's good to be sure the number is somehow carried (along with humaneheart.com) by your pet.

You will be given the option to re-enter the Pet Registry into the "Edit" routine. That allows you to check over the information you entered, and to view the picture, if one was up-loaded.



II. Edit My Pet's Data


To enter the "Edit" routine on the on-screen selection pad, click on "Edit My Pet's Data", and then click on the kind of animal. This will present an ID entry form. Enter the owner's name and the pet's name. It doesn't matter whether you use upper or lower case letters for them.

However, the pin must be entered exactly. If it includes one or more alphabetical characters, those characters must be upper or lower case, depending on the way they were when the pin was created.

After entering the ID information, press the "Enter" key, or click on "Edit".

Notice: If you want to delete the file for your pet, click on "Delete".

On the "Edit" form, you can change any information in the pet's file, including the picture. [As indicated above, if the picture is changed, the new picture may not replace the old one for some time, but it will happen.]

ID numbers, and the Descriptive Dialog may need to be updated.

An important use of the "Edit" routine is to change the "Status:" of your pet, if that becomes necessary. If "OK" is changed to "Lost", for example, it will allow the Pet Registry to report your pet in the "Search" for lost pets report.

After editing, click on "Submit" or "Submit Form". [The blue "Submit" and green "Re-Enter" tabs are extras to facilitate operation of the program.]



III. Report - Search for Lost Pets


Enter through the on-screen selection pad, just as with the "Enter" and "Edit" routines.

Enter the location information: zip code, or map numbers, or both. [See Part I. above for the instructions regarding map numbers.]

Then, enter the information for the pet you are searching the Pet Registry to identify. The more search choices you choose, the more likely the pet will be ranked at or close to the top of the report.

Click on either the "Submit Form" button of the "Submit" tab when you are ready.

[If you only click on the "unlimited" radio button for range, and make no search choices, the report will pull up the first 100 pets for the kind of animal you selected. That's not very helpful, but it's an easy way to work this part of the Pet Registry, just to see how it works.]

This report displays information for matched pets including:

Up to 18 categories from the search choices (type, basic descriptive elements, etc.); pet's name, owner's name (if not marked confidential); owner's address (if not marked confidential); zip code and/or map numbers of the pet's home, distance of the finder's (searcher's) location from the pet's home (if map numbers for both were given), if an ID number was matched (moves pet to the top rank), and if tag information was matched (moves pet to the top rank).

A nice feature of any report is the ability to enlarge a picture to a maximum on-screen height of 580 pixels. You can scan through report files staying in the enlarged picture mode. A picture can be enlarged by clicking on it, or by holding down the "Alt" key and pressing the "down-arrow" key. Restore the picture by clicking on it, or by holding down the "Alt" key and pressing the "up-arrow" key.

You can click on the "Description Dialog" button to display that feature.

To scan through the report files, use the "right-arrow: and "left-arrow" keys.

If you see the pet you were looking for, and you want to contact the owner, click on the "Report As Found" button. That opens a form that allows entry of the finder's contact information, and it allows the finder to write to the owner. As stated above, the owner's contact phone number and address are given only if not marked confidential by the owner. If the owner's e-mail address was given to the Pet Registry, the e-mail sent by the finder goes automatically to the owner. In any case, the e-mail goes to Pet Registry Operations, which can then contact the owner using any of the contact information, confidential or not, submitted to the Pet Registry.



IV. Other Modes of Operation


The other "Modes of Operation" work similarly to the ones that have been explained in detail above.



V. Spreading the Word, Your Questions, Comments, and Voluntary Donations


For this program to work efficiently, everyone needs to know about it - about where to go when a pet is missing, or when a pet is found. So, please spread the word.

You can ask questions, etc. by sending an e-mail to: pet-registry@humaneheart.com.

Please let us know what you think of the program. If what you say is good, let us know if we can use it as a testimonial. You may also want to give constructive criticism that may help improve the program. This project is expected to be on-going in terms of revising and improving the Pet Registry.

Donations and corporate sponsorship are welcome.

Donations to the Humane HEART are tax deductible.
[See: Reference 26 USC 170(c)(2)(B), together with Sec. 1.170A-1(a) of the Rules of the Department of the Treasury. Consequently, any donation to an organization "for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals", which of course the Humane HEART is in both respects, is tax-deductible.]


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Visit the Humane HEART at http://humaneheart.org.