In a first for South Africa, the City of Cape Town’s Safety and Security Directorate has launched a new website to assist in reuniting lost pets with their owners.
CityPetFinder, as the new website is known, is an electronic pet-finding system created by the City’s IST Department, in partnership with Cape Town’s 21 Registered Animal Organisations (RAOs). It seeks to provide a single, consolidated point of reference for domestic animals impounded across the metro.
Pet owners will be able to search CityPetFinder to see if their lost pet is located at any one of these RAOs. Conversely, the RAOs will be able to use the website to determine whether any of the animals in their care have been listed as lost pets. This partnership is one of the unique features that sets CityPetFinder apart from any private lost and found pet websites, increasing the probability of reuniting lost pets with their owners.
The website forms part of the Safety and Security Directorate’s mandate to enforce the City’s by-laws, while also seeking to reduce the population of stray animals in Cape Town. The website was born out of the difficulty identified in locating pet owners after their lost animals had been impounded.
Currently eight of the City’s Law Enforcement Officers are responsible for addressing animal complaints from members of the public and impounding lost/stray animals. The lost or stray animals thus impounded are accommodated at a RAO shelter (including the City’s pound in Atlantis) for a minimum period of ten days or until their owners claim them. The cost of this accommodation is borne by the City.
Identifying the owners of animals is very difficult and often happens at a slow pace, if at all. Often the animals end up being left in pounds for lengthy periods. This new electronic system seeks to ensure quicker recovery and shorter stays at pounds and shelters.
The CityPetFinder website is accessible here.
In order to use the site, visitors first have to register before logging the details of their lost animal.
Searching for lost animals
When performing a search, only potential matches based on the individual’s pet criteria will be returned. This is a security measure to ensure that potentially malicious parties cannot easily access all found pets in the database and fraudulently collect them. In addition, the search results will only contain certain information, i.e. ROA identity tag, breed, cross-breed, suburb found, RAO name, and the contact details of the RAO where the pet is being held. Other additional information about the pet will be hidden and viewable only by the RAO, such as the name, sex, size, microchip number, etc. This system guards against exploitation.
The City must ensure that CityPetFinder cannot be used as a vehicle for illegal activities such as re-selling, dog fighting, meat production etc. As such, the amount of information displayed in the results field is limited. When an individual locates an animal that they think may be their pet, ownership will first be confirmed by the RAO, which will use the additional pet information to perform a security check for validating ownership. For this same reason, CityPetFinder does not make use of photographs of the lost or found animals.
Notification of found animals
Only RAOs will be able to log found pets on CityPetFinder. If an animal is found by a member of the public, they must take it to a RAO or request that it be collected. A contact list of all RAOs is available on the website (no registration is required to view the list). The RAO will then capture the found pet’s details on the system. This decision is also based on public safety. Rather than having a member of the public post a found pet and have the collection take place at that person’s residential address, the pet must be transported to a RAO. Collection at private residences creates possible security risks and could lead to fraudulent pet listings. This process enables the lost/stray pet to be safely transferred to a registered and trained pet care-giver.
Initially the website will only be used to reunite lost cats and dogs with their owners. However, its usage may be expanded in time.
Those without internet access can still use the CityPetFinder website via the Smart Cape internet facilities at City libraries. Alternatively they can contact one of the RAOs to log the pet on their behalf.
