JOHANNESBURG – We have all seen it before on our community group feeds: frantic pet owners searching for their lost pets, or good citizens trying to catch animals on the loose and take them to the nearest vet or place of safety.
There is now an app with the sole purpose of reuniting lost pets with their owners.
Lost & Hound is free to use and requires an e-mail address or Facebook account to sign up.
People can list lost and found pets, along with pictures, and search for animals within a 30km radius of their location. Once a user finds an animal they think may be theirs, they can privately message the poster and organise collection.
Lost & Hound is free to use and requires an e-mail address or Facebook account to sign up. Image: Supplied.
Helping communities - and their pets
Ed Wrede, MD of Empire State - the software development company that built the app, said, “We saw a need for this service within communities. Not only for private citizens, but for vets and animal welfare organisations too. Often pets remain unclaimed for weeks or months, purely because owners were not looking in the right places. In addition, many community platforms are overburdened with lost and found pet posts, putting pressure on forum admins. This app aims to alleviate some of that pressure."
The app is available for download on both the Google Play and Apple App stores.
The app allows for:
- adding lost and found animal listings
- describing the animal by type
- describing the animal by condition
- adding photos of the animal
- adding location where the animal was found
- adding a description of the animal
- direct messaging between users, allowing for both videos and photos to be sent
Lost & Hound is free to use and requires an e-mail address or Facebook account to sign up. Image: Supplied.