What is a stuck pet?
A "stuck" pet is a pet that cannot be found by browsing through the pound. There is a glitch in the way that the pound works that causes some names to never show up. Pets with these names are effectively stuck in the pound until someone searches their name either in the pound search box or in the sidebar.
Will you let me know when you find a lost pet that <choose one or more: has a petpet, is a specific color, is a specific species, has some kind of high stats, has a good name, etc.>.
No. We do not believe it would be fair. Everyone has to check out the site to find their pets. No one will get contacted about them.
If I paint/zap/train a pet, and then pound it will it become unstuck?
No. A pet becomes stuck based solely on its name. Color, species, number of times adopted, hunger and stats do not have any effect on this. However, the pound tends to occasionally cycle through the alphabet and pets that were once stuck will become unstuck. Exercise caution when transferring a pet that was once stuck as we cannot guarantee that it will remain stuck.
Why is a pet still on your list even though it's been adopted?
As Arden puts it: We have lives people!!! We're not cyborgs!!! Our staff is small, so please bear with us.
It has been proven that using the feedback form is the fastest way to get that pet off the list. If the form is down or you don't wish to use it, try neomailing Arden to have her remove it from the list.
What is the difference between the pets in the blue bars and the pets in the red bars?
Blue indicates male pets. Pink indicates female pets.
What about pets with yellow bars?
OOPS! That means one of us forgot to fill out the gender. Please notify us if you see that!
What do the abbreviations after pets mean?
Most of the abbreviations we use are standard to the PC (pound chat). The following is a list of the ones you'll usually find on the site:
BD = Battledome pet (a pet with noteworthy stats)
SBD = semi-battledome, referring to lesser stats that are still notable
RW = Real Word (note the word may not be in English, we will tag all real words as such rather than note which language as many words are the same in many languages.)
RN = Real Name
RLN = Real Last Name (or Family name)
Are there every any <choose one or more: babies, draiks, krawks, cybunnies, UCs, VWN pets, BD pets, old pets, specific color pets, etc.> stuck in the pound?
Theoretically yes, but that doesn't mean you're going to find any. Most LEs will occasionally show up on the list, with the exception of Krawks and Draiks, though some more frequently than others. It's very rare for any non-zappable colours/species to be found, so if you're looking for one of those, your best bet is to look for some up for adoption or trade. Most zappable colours and species do turn up with some regularity, though it's pure luck whether they do or not.
Can you make it so we can sort by colour, stats, age, etc?
We have no plans to allow the ability to sort by colour any time soon, like neo we reserve the right to change our minds, but we've never really liked the idea, it's already quite easy to find most painted pets listed on the site as they're usually listed in the most recent page or two of any species, as they're far more likely to get adopted very quickly after being listed.
As for the other things such as stats, age, etc, they are not currently possible due to the way the site is coded. There are some distant plans to try and update some of the coding to make some of this easier, but currently all those things are handwritten notes attached to the pet in one little "notes" box, which we can't use to sort by. One day when we have a ton of time and energy we will hopefully fix that up, but until then you're stuck with the current sorting methods.
Can I adopt so-and-so?
If the pet has already been adopted, please do not contact the owner unless they specifically say the pet is up for adoption. In that case, please follow their rules. If the pet is in the pound, anyone is allowed to adopt him or her.
I tried to adopt a pet, but wasn't able to! Help!
Have you checked the spelling of the pet's name? Is it already adopted by someone else? If it's neither of these two, then your account is likely under 4 months old. Please see the next question for more info on that.
My account is under 4 months, what can I adopt?
Accounts under 4 months cannot adopt pets over level 2, or LE/restricted pets (except grundos). They can adopt the following colors: Blue, Brown, Checkered, Glowing, Green, Invisible, Orange, Pink, Purple, Red, Robot, Shadow, Silver, Skunk, Speckled, Split, White, Yellow.
What does it mean when a pet is "not yet born"?
A pet "not yet born" is a pet where the creation process was started, but never completed, under the old system for making pets. These pets will remain that way until they are purged.
How can I help?
We always appreciate new names of pets who are stuck and names of pets who are on the list that have been adopted, as with only 4 of us, and thousands of you, it's very hard to keep up with who's been adopted.
When letting you know about adopted pets, should I send a message for each update, or should I group them all into one list?
Please just send it all in a single mail, whether through the form, or via email or neomail. It's MUCH easier for us to work from a list in a single message rather than get 50 individual emails about each pet. If you forget something or have something new to add, feel free to send a new message, but in general if you're checking for adopted pets compile a list and send it when you're done for the day, or the hour, or similar! This way if Arden can't deal with the mail herself, she can forward it along to another staff member easily (Can you imagine forwarding 50 different emails all with one single message? Oy!)
I'm great with graphics, what do you need?
We are looking for link back buttons, particularly in 88x15 and 88x31. We would also love some "I was found through the Lost and Pound" (or similar) buttons/banners for people to post on their pet lookups. All buttons/banners/etc should say "Lost and Pound" anything else is up to you! We will add a credit link to your neo account, so be sure to give us that info!
How do you find stuck pets?
The basic answer is by randomly typing in names and checking if they are in the pound. Yes that's right, trial and error! For more details on how stuck pets are found check out Lorrenn's Petpage