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Animals are woven almost unnoticed into the complex web of human existence, permeating every part of our lives, from mundane subsistence questions to attitudes about the world around us. M(edieval) A(nimal) D(ata-networks) (MAD) was conceived as a way to bring together scholars interested in addressing the manifold ways humans have related to and depended on animals for physical and spiritual existence in Medieval Europe. Above all, this data network is intended to create a truly multidisciplinary stage, allowing scholars and the wider public access to a variety of data in various fields. It is administered through the Department of Medieval Studies at Central European University (Budapest, Hungary) and the Institut für Realienkunde des Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit (Krems, Austria). The web address of MAD is http://www.imareal.oeaw.ac.at/mad/The project is currently working in association with scholars from Great-Britain, France, Spain, Romania, Hungary, Austria, and intends to expand into parts of Europe not yet covered by the network.The blog will be part of an Internet network comprised of already existing website, online database, and mailing-list. The intention is to link the blogs posts to the fragmentary data of the database, in a complementary manner designed to illuminate how different kinds of sources about medieval animals should be approached. All too often, scholars “cherry-pick” data from other disciplines without a proper understanding of the data context.