Interactive finder map seeks to reunite lost El Paso pets and owners
An unlikely pairing of two of El Paso’s city departments is coming together in the hopes of helping lost pets their way home.
After seeing an influx of pets come into animal shelters over 4th of July Weekend, El Paso Animal Services and the El Paso Department of Information Technology have announced the launch of the “Interactive Pet Map”.
The “Interactive Pet Map” is a community tool that lists the location of found and lost pets on a virtual El Paso map via the Animal Services webpage or the mobile EP311 app.
Similar to the iPhone app “Find My Friends,” the “Pet Finder Map” will display where shelter animals were found in each area of the city, as well as displaying images of lost pets that owners are able to post.
It is the hope that the dual-function of this resource will make it easier for pet owners and pet finders in their search, ultimately reuniting pet with owner.
“Every nose counts, especially as El Paso gets closer to becoming a ‘no-kill’ community,” said Paula Powell, Animal Services Director. “By keeping pets in their homes and out of the shelter, we will be able to better manage our current shelter population, which will result in more lives being saved.”
As well as helping lost pet owners, the app will also prevent the need for pets to be taken in to the shelter before reconciling with their owners.
The app can be found at https://gis.elpasotexas.gov/petfinder/index.html or on the EP311 mobile app, which is available for download on Apple and Android devices.
