Ensuring no one is forgotten.

Support for animal welfare in emergencies

When people are asked to leave home, the welfare of their pets can become a concern. SituateMe brings vital welfare information into the conversation.

When a wildfire, flood or pandemic forces people from their homes, the animals left behind often become the quietest casualty of an emergency. SituateMe was designed to ensure no one is forgotten, including the pets, guide animals and livestock that depend on owners who may be delayed, evacuated or unreachable. By inviting citizens to report the location and status of animals in need, the platform adds a missing layer to situational awareness, giving emergency managers and welfare organisations a clearer picture of what is happening on the ground.

Crowdsourcing transforms the people on the ground into a distributed sensor network for community wellbeing. Neighbours who see a dog pacing behind a closed gate, a cat carrier in a porch or a horse in a flooded paddock can pass that signal to responders through an intuitive channel on a phone they already carry. This kind of live, hyperlocal reporting outpaces traditional assessment methods, particularly during extended periods of crisis, and it helps authorities prioritise the households where both human and animal distress are most acute.

The animal welfare view connects directly to the wider emergency management picture, sharing one conversation rather than creating separate siloed tools. Reported information about vulnerable pets and their owners can be analysed alongside calls, tips and requests, then surfaced on a simple map interface so teams can see the scale and location of concerns at a glance. Messaging features allow a live agent to escalate urgent cases, while secure sharing keeps sensitive details between the reporter, the relevant authority and the welfare organisations best placed to act.

Preparedness starts long before an event, and animal welfare is routinely left out of continuity and business continuity planning conversations. SituateMe supports drills and preparedness exercises by letting teams test how quickly reports arrive, how they are triaged and how communication flows with volunteer responders and community groups. Because the interface is multi-language and works across familiar messaging platforms, pet owners, students, passengers and families can all contribute with minimal friction, building the kind of trust that makes crowdsourced intelligence reliable when it matters most.