Out-of-date Web sites cause confusion for Vernon Residents

VERNON - Folks looking on the Internet for places to adopt pets might think that the town's animal shelter isn't accepting cats due to an outbreak of distemper.

But that, says Animal Control Officer Craig Segar, isn't true. In fact, he says, that hasn't, been true for three years.

That site, located at http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/ct29.html is a part of Petfinder.org, a Web site designed to help people find and adopt homeless pets.

E-mail sent to the site was returned as undeliverable.

Other sites have stated the pound is a no-kill shelter, which is also untrue, Segar said.

Luke Foster, Journal Inquirer 7/5/03

"We're a full-service shelter," he said.

That and other sites containing outdated information have caused the town some problems in the past.

Segar said Robert Scofield, the town's Management and Information Services Director, told him a few people have complained about inaccurate town information on the internet.

For example, Scofield said he has seen a lot of outdated information at www.vernonct.com. Scofield said the site isn't updated regularly, and some facts aren't accurate.

"That kind of information is misleading to people," Scofield said.

The best way for people to get accurate, up-to-date information is to use the official, town-controlled Web site, www.munic.state.ct.us/Vernon.

Segar said information about the shelter should be taken from the town's web site.

But the reason VernonCT has not been updated is the company running the site - ImageWorks, LLC - says it hasn't been able to get information from the town.

ImageWorks is a web development firm that donated the site to the town free of charge.

The site is "loosely funded" through advertisements, the company's vice president for marketing, Jeffrey Cohen, said.

When the site was launched five years ago, the town frequently sent information.

But that's changed recently, Cohen said.

"I have requested information for the town ... several times, and they don't give me the information," Cohen said.

As a result, he said, he's quit calling town officials and the site is updated whenever Image Works has information to update it with.

If the town is concerned about the inaccurate information on the site, Cohen said, he would "be more than happy to take information and post it."

"The bottom line is everybody who knows us in the town knows we would be more than happy to update the web site whenever we're provided with information," Cohen said. "We've never said no to them."