STEPHANIE BRUCE / STAFF
Sonya Velez laughs as her two Chinese Cresteds, Zelda and Romeo, pose. Velez, founder of NashvillePetFinders.org, was awarded the Julia Colton Animal Welfare Volunteer Award by the Nashvile Humane Association.

Animal magnet
By PAM SHERBORNE
For Davidson A.M.

Toyo and Elaine Brown were distraught when their 2 1⁄2-year-old Lab mix, Blue, ran away.

For more than three weeks, the couple posted flyers and combed their East Nashville neighborhood looking for their pet. Then Elaine stumbled on an ad for a local Web site: NashvillePetFinders.org. Just days after the Browns placed their lost-dog announcement on the Web site, Blue was back home.

''This service was really wonderful for us,'' Toyo said. ''You just don't know how sad we were when he turned up missing and how happy we were to be able to get him back.''

In recognition of this valuable service, Sonya Velez, the creator of Nashville Pet Finders, recently was given the Nashville Humane Association's Julia Colton Animal Welfare Volunteer Award for her commitment to the welfare of animals.

Velez said she was completely surprised when she found out she won the award.

''It was such an honor,'' she said. ''You know, when you are doing something like this, you don't even think it is so special.''

But Mary Pat Boatfield, executive director of the Nashville Humane Association, said Velez was a perfect choice for the award.

''She saw a need and took an idea and made a difference,'' Boatfield said. ''This is just one individual. She has helped a lot of people and animals.''

Velez started NashvillePetFinders.org three years ago.

''I'd always wanted to do something to help animals,'' she said. ''My husband has a lot of allergies, so I wasn't going to be able to take them in. I just didn't know what I wanted to do.''

Then fate took over. While driving, she noticed a sign on a telephone pole for a lost pet. The writing was barely legible, and she wondered whether that pet would ever be reunited with its owner. That's when it hit her that there was a better way to do this.

''God just put a bug in my ear, and the wheels started turning,'' she said.

She set up the Web site with some help and maintains it daily as a free service for pet lovers. She is working now with her ''Web guy'' to make it more user-friendly.

Though it got off to a slow start, the site now gets about 10,000 monthly ''hits'' from viewers.

''I have had some people tell me that by the time they find out about the site and go on to enter their lost pet, the pet is already listed as being found,'' she said.

Velez said the stories she's heard over the past several years have made her feel good about the endeavor. She has e-mailed dozens of people with words of encouragement and has made friends in the process.

''There was this one lady who had lost her dog,'' Velez said. ''She listed the dog on the Web site, but months went by. We e-mailed each other often. She was very upset. Then, one day before last Christmas, I got an e-mail from her and she told me she had found her dog. She found it standing in the middle of the street just a short distance from her home. She hadn't found it through the site, but I was able to communicate with her about her loss. The dog had been missing for nine months.''

Steve Armistead is quick to praise the Web site since his dog, Hannah, disappeared.

''I was able to locate my dog within 10 minutes after being referred to the Web site by the Humane Association,'' Armistead said. ''Without the site, she would have been lost indefinitely.

''NashvillePetFinders.com is a tremendous tool for finding lost pets, and I hope to support their cause for years to come.''

These days, Velez stays busy getting the word out about her site and is working to find donors. At this point, she and her husband, Bill, chief operating officer of SESAC, a performing rights organization, are funding the project on their own.

''I have asked for donations from those using the site, but I really don't get many,'' she said.

Velez recently became the proud owner of Zelda and Romeo, two Chinese Cresteds, a breed that is hairless, so her husband's allergies aren't affected. ''I just know how I feel about my dogs,'' Velez said. ''They are my children.''

The Julia Colton Animal Welfare Volunteer Award has been given annually since 1995. It is named in honor of a woman whose commitment to the welfare of animals was outstanding during her service to the Humane Association.

Past recipients of the NHA award are Frances Hutchinson, 1995; Huldah Sharp, 1996; George Crook, 1997; Nancy Van Camp, 1998; Robin Patton, 1999; Sharon Langford, 2000; and Jim DeLanis, 2001
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