Monday, May 7, 2001		Article

Choose your own hound
By Leyla Swan

I love cats. Sadly, my one-bedroom apartment in a six storey building precludes a feline flatmate. In my book it would be cruel, not to mention dangerous, to keep a cat programmed to roam and jump at will in such a lofty and confined space.

Fortunately, there are a plenty of catty Web sites on the Internet to supply me with an occasional dose of feline cuteness and to reassure me that I have made the right decision. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (www.rspca.org.uk) is the world’s largest and oldest animal welfare organisation and its site covers a huge range of subjects from news items to advice about caring for pets. It was here that I learnt the terrible truth about keeping cats in high-rise homes — apparently city vets in Britain are regularly asked to treat or put down cats left terribly injured after falling or leaping from balconies and open windows.

If I really want a fix of the aaah factor, the Pet of the Day photographs on The Pet Channel (www.thepetchannel.com) are a surefire hit. Like a specialist TV station, the site has several "channels" devoted to topics such as health, shopping and training. In the health section, for instance, an archive of questions are answered by trained vets, while the training pages contain an array of articles on how to turn your rebellious dog, cat or horse into a little angel.

Cat World (www.catworld.co.uk) is another informative site. Constructed out of material from British magazine Cat World, it is packed full of well-researched and detailed articles about everything to do with our feline friends, as well as a cat breeder’s directory and a special section for show cats.

Although I haven’t yet managed to find a site on which I can pet and pamper a virtual cat, dog lovers are better served. They can visit Virtual Dog (www. virtualdog.com) and choose their own unique hound from a make-believe dog pound. But be warned, these computerised creatures makes as many demands as any real-life pooch, and owners are required to walk, feed and clean up after their canine charges.

Serious dog owners would be well advised to visit The Kennel Club (www. the-kennel-club.org.uk), the official Web site of Britain’s world famous Kennel Club, the organisation for owners of pedigreed dogs. Although its design is as staid as you’d expect from a club that dates back more than 100 years, the site does feature comprehensive links (including the Crufts home page and pet travel information), and a handy Good Citizen Dog Scheme which offers obedience training for young pups.

Cats and dogs may be the world’s most popular pets but the Web serves the whole gamut of animal-lovers. If your idea of a good time is staring at an aquarium, then Ornamental Fish (www.ornamentalfish.org) is the site for you. Featuring wonderfully claiming and colour images, this site guides visitors through all stages of fish care, from buying a tank to filtration, feeding and cleaning. If lizards and snakes are more your thing, slide over to UK Reptiles (www.ukreptiles.com) which features a photo-gallery, a chat room and taming and welfare advice. If you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for, try The Tame Beast (www.tamebeast.com). One of the Web’s most comprehensive sources of links to pet sites, it includes books, magazines, clubs and very cute, live petcam sites, in which Web cameras transmit the playful antics of mischievous and just plain adorable pets.

The BBC’s online Animal Zone (www.bbc.oco.uk/nature/animals/) is a good source of fascinating information about both wild and domestic animals. Its pets section features an animal behaviour guide and a link to behind-the-scenes stuff on the popular TV programme Vets in Practice, while the pet fact files cover all manner of creatures great and small. For something a little more zany, take a peek at Switcheroozoo (www.switcheroozoo. com). Designed with children in mind, this positively silly site allows visitors to create their own species of animal, welding goldfish fins on to a horse’s body and giving it the head of an elephant, for instance. Although they won’t find raspberries, kids will have hours of fun imitating the noises featured on Animal Sounds on the Net. (members tripod.com/Thryomanes/Animal Sounds. html). There’s the usual range of farmyard quacks and cockadoole-dos, but far more interesting are the vocal samplings of such oddballs as the loon, currawong, bulbul and drongo. There’s also fun to be had at Animal Jokes (www.animal-jokes. co.uk), a collection of truly awful animal crackers. Bright and visually interesting, the site offers prizes for contributors who can better such jokes as: Who was the famous underwater murderer? Jack the kipper. Now that really is cruel.

— Asia Features