Animal Planet Hero of the Year

Alison Gianotto, co-author of Professional PHP4 Web Development Solutions and known to thousands as the innovating programmer Snipe of Snipe.Net and PHPChick.Com has been nominated and selected by Discovery Channel's Animal Planet for the Hero of the Year Award.

[ClickPress, Sat Oct 07 2006] Alison Gianotto, co-author of Professional PHP4 Web Development Solutions and known to thousands as the innovating programmer Snipe of Snipe.Net and PHPChick.Com has been nominated and selected by Discovery Channel's Animal Planet for the Hero of the Year Award.

Thousands of amazing people were nominated for Animal Planet Hero of the Year, but only one is using open source technology to address problems plaguing communities around the world.

Alison Gianotto is the director and founder of Pet-Abuse.Com, a California-based organization that tracks animal cruelty cases and animal abusers across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Spain and New Zealand.

After an unfulfilling career on Wall Street, Alison moved into the technology field, where she worked as a web developer and taught graphic design and computer programming for Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York. She later moved to San Diego to take on the role of technical director at a leading web development firm. She has co-authored two technology books on application design and database solutions.

When the tragedy of animal cruelty struck close to home in October 2001, she refocused her efforts toward animal cruelty prevention and prosecution, and educating the public about the connection between animal cruelty and interpersonal violence.

Pet-Abuse.Com provides a database of animal cruelty cases, organized by country and state, with sophisticated search criteria allowing the user to query for specific aspects of a case. For law enforcement on-the-go, Alison developed a WAP version of the database search to allow law enforcement with internet-enabled wireless devices such as cellular phones and Blackberry's to access the database at the scene of an incident.

In just 5 years, Alison's organization has catalogued over 9,000 cases of animal cruelty and more than 9,000 animal abusers. The information from these cases is used to compile real-time graphical statistics that document trends in animal abuse crimes and interactive animal cruelty maps displaying cruelty cases on state and local geographic levels.

In addition to the only searchable database of abuse cases, Pet-Abuse.Com provides animal advocates with a unique suite of tools, including a national listing of upcoming court dates, and the ability to be notified by e-mail when updates to cases are posted. Humane societies and rescues across the country now use the animal abuser search on Pet-Abuse.Com to screen potential adopters for a history of animal cruelty.

Alison's role is multi-faceted, not only reaching out to the public to prevent animal cruelty, but working with humane law enforcement agencies across the country to shine a light on criminal cruelty cases and the important role that Animal Control serves in the lives of the animals and people of our communities.

She was involved with the production of "Prosecuting Animal Cruelty and Illegal Animal Fighting," a video training film aimed at teaching law enforcement how to effectively investigate and document animal cruelty crimes.

Her efforts have been lauded in the pages of People Magazine and numerous newspapers including the Washington Post and the Boston Globe, and she has appeared on several radio and television programs to speak about animal cruelty issues and responsible pet ownership.

Learn more about Alison, and vote for her for Animal Planet's Hero of the Year today!