Looking for female. Age no bar, Bangalore. Should be mild mannered.
— Adrian, Bangalore

If the request sounds suspicious, relax: It is just an example of a desperate animal lover, Adrain, looking for a mate for his two-year-old lovelorn male Boxer mix, Simba.

It may have taken a pining family dog, and a dearth of dog mating platforms in Mumbai, that forced IT professional Devi Sharma to start www.dogmateonline.com. But just one-and-a-half months later, the site has found an audience not just in Pune, Hyderabad, New Delhi and Bangalore but also in the US and UK.

Dogmateonline, as its name suggests, provides an exclusive platform for people searching for a mate for their canine pals. Explains Sharma, “Our pet Rocky is a well-behaved Doberman who lives with my cousins in Pune. At six years of age, he is longing for a mate but we haven’t been too successful in finding him the ‘right girl’. Aside from the family vet and friends, pet owners don’t have any specialized service to find their pets a mate. This was the thought that had me working on a website, entirely for pet mating.” On Dogmateonline, people can register their requests for a mate for their pets ¿ complete with their dog’s age, weight, colour and precise requirements.

“Pets often become a part of the family and people are willing to go the extra mile to find mates for their dogs. My family, for example, is ready to travel out of Pune, if they find the right companion for Rocky. There is a sentimental reason too: Rocky is the second generation pet from the same roots we have, and now we want to raise his third generation,” she explains.

In Mumbai, the safest way to facilitate pet mating is through the family veterinarian. However, many pet owners feel it’s not easy to find a mate for their pets.

Laxmikant Borade, a Kandivali resident who has registered his three-year-old male Pomeranian Ricky with the website, says, “I have been looking for a female for Ricky for nearly a year now. Despite Pomeranians being a common breed, we have approached several vets and friends and been unsuccessful. Now I am waiting for a response from dogmateonline, and this is my only chance,” he says. Borade is hardly demanding. “I only want a female Pomeranian dog of any size and height for mating my dog,” he says. “Is that too much to ask for?”

Such seems to be the desperation of pet owners in the city and world over that the website, launched on July 12, has already received 2,000 hits and over five pages of requests.

According to Pradeep Selvam of Chennai, owner of Romeyo, a 14-month-old male Golden Retriever, “For many pet owners who want to ensure that their pets experience all aspects of life, an online pet mating service can be a boon to meet other people and network and eventually find the desired soulmate for their dog.” Selvam has, in fact, found an interesting request for a female retriever and even contacted the owner with emails. “I am still waiting for their response,” he said.

Sharma, who is baffled by the demand and the hits her impromptu website is getting, says, “We are already thinking of expanding the site now. We are trying to bring on board a regular dog trainer and columnist to answer queries. We also want to start a free classified section for pet owners and pet service providers. Later on, we may branch off to a cats link.” As for now, dogmateonline remains a self-funded, self-designed initiative, registered and hosted by Yahoo.