With the launch of three new MAIN forums, WNC pet lovers of all varieties have a place to exchange pet stories and advice, post pet lost-and-founds, and share other four-legged, feathered, and scaled information.

Those who favor felines can mews in the Cat Chat forum, the canine crowd can pack into Dog Talk, and feathered friends as well as other critter connoisseurs can flock to A Breed Apart.

MAIN also welcomes veterinarians, pet shops, and animal shelters to use these forums to alert pet-owners to services, new products, and adoption opportunities.

The Madison County Animal Shelter, thanks in part to MAIN volunteer and web designer Julie Parker, just made its web-debut last month. Other shelters, like the Asheville Humane Society, are spiffing up their websites with regular, featured-pet updates. MAIN's Michael Tracey made it possible for the Asheville Humane Society to quickly and easily update their website with custom-built software.

Other WNC shelters now online include:

Regional pet-placement sites include:  Adopt-a-Pet.com, Carolina Pet Rescue, Carolina Poodle Rescue, and Petfinder.org.

An online search for veterinarian websites turned up very few for WNC:  REACH Hospital (emergency care) and All Pets Animal Hospital.

Meanwhile, WNC probably has more than the average number of local alternative veterinary websites: Misty Mountain Natural Animal Health and Natural Veterinary Pharmaceuticals. AltVetMed is a good national source of information on alternative pet-care too.

Some county sites, like Buncombe and Watauga, list their Animal Control regulations online. And, if you find an injured wild animal and are wondering whom to contact, the Genesis Wildlife Sanctuary out of Beech Mountain, NC, is a nonprofit rehabilitation facility.

Obviously, many local and state resources have not found their way onto the web. Help get more WNC vets and shelters online! Spread the word about MAIN's low-cost commercial webhosting and free nonprofit hosting the next time you visit a shelter or veterinarian.