Brief description of the organisation/initiative
The mission of Spot a Stray is to offer a free app where people can track and register stray or lost dogs on an interactive map, creating a reference and a unified database of stray dogs in Greece. This way, relevant stakeholders will better provide proper care, treatment, and suitable homes for those animals to help solve the plight of abandoned dogs in the country.
Challenge overview
The exact population and the location of stray dogs are unknown in Greece. Although tracking and registering all these dogs is the cornerstone of solving the enormous problem of stray dogs in Greece, it is a very challenging task for the competent bodies (municipalities), as it requires a high volume of resources and staff. Moreover, today there is no single tool in this direction at the national (Greek) level. So the main challenge is to constitute a unified tool that supports local authorities in this impressive work, as well as, create a single live network for all the stakeholders.
Establishment of the organisation/initiative/enterprise
The application has been created to fill the gap in measuring the population of stray dogs in Greece, helping these animals. The idea started in March 2021 and came to fruition a few months later.
Management structure and governance
The initiative is a non-profit application available on both Android and iOS. The team consists of 4 co-founders: Artemis Rafa, Ioannis Vavitsas, Tasos Koumasidis, and Panos Antonopoulos.
Principles of work, objectives and activities
Spot a Stray aims to create a strong network to support NGOs, volunteers, vets, animal rescue, and public sector organisations, and increase the visibility of the stray dog population, further facilitate their location and rescue. The application allows the users to:
- Post the photo of a stray dog, as well as several filters (size, breed, colour, sex, microchip)
- Browse the dynamic map of Spot a Stray to find stray (or lost dogs) in its area (or in any part of Greece) through various filters and communicate with other users through comments
- Have direct access to the contact details of the nearest clinical animals, veterinary clinics, animal welfare organisations, and competent services of the municipalities
- Receive alerts for any new stray dog posted in a preselected area, as well as, follow posts that interest the user
- Have access to valuable articles about man’s best friend and the human relationship with dogs, as well as the respective legislation for animal welfare in Greece through the Spot a Stray blog
The general idea (beyond being able to help individual dogs or find the dog you may have lost) is that by registering all stray dogs, it would be possible to know their population per region, and as such, it is much easier to define strategies by the competent bodies (municipalities, state).
Target groups
The target group is not only dog lovers or dog owners. The organisation attracts any individual that recognises the right of every animal to have a decent life, always according to the national legislation, and they are willing to spend a couple of minutes of their time to help them.
Innovation
Spot a stray is the first tool for tracking and registering stray dogs (and their population) by region, easily and quickly. Today, there is not a single tool in this direction not only at the national but also at the European and global levels. There have been some efforts – e.g. Talea street survey app from Italy, but they are aim authorities only. These apps are quite complicated to use, and UX is weak. The main innovation is creating a one-stop Pan-Hellenic network from animal welfare entities, municipalities, and volunteers to effectively register stray dogs. Also, it is innovative because it allows posting a photo of a stray on the map in less than one minute.
Key partners
The key stakeholders are the municipalities all over Greece because they are responsible for managing and decision-making about stray dogs. Animal welfare NGOs and individuals are also important to help Spot a Stray fulfil its mission as they will be the ones to track/register stray dogs. In April 2022, Spot a Stray announced the first official collaboration with the Municipality of Lokras in central Greece (a 6-month-long project). Spot a Stray is also collaborating with the Municipality of Amarousion in Athens.
Impact and Evaluation
The application is still very young (the app went live in November 2021), but the community is growing fast. The impact of Spot A Stray is of being the first mobile application in Greece aiming to track & register stray dogs. Currently, there are ~2,000 app downloads, 1,700 subscribed users, and ~650 registered dogs all over the country.
Recommendations
Spot a Stray can be easily adapted in any country because it uses Google Maps and real-time location. However, to ensure success in other countries, it is crucial to create a network with the responsibility for the stray dog management authorities (in the case of Greek municipalities) to raise awareness of the tool.
Spot a Stray leverages the power of the community to help solve this enormous animal welfare issue. The same logic can be applied to other kinds of populations (e.g. homeless people, although much more complicated due to personal rights issues raised) that need to be measured by joining the digital and social forces.
Lessons Learned
It has been -and still is -really tough trying to align with the local authorities when no protocol or guideline is existing for this specific purpose. Therefore, the founders learned to build a lot of resilience and patience as they were emerging progressively into the local authorities’ space.
What is important for sure is to promote the activity and to have a good team. In Spot a Stray case, the team consists mainly of volunteers, but- even though- it has been the biggest resource to end with the creation of the app.
References
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.