It’s believed that there are an average of 100,000 – 150,000 stray cats in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Moreover, cats go missing in large numbers daily in the UAE, so it’s become more important to protect your furry friend. And one simple way to do so is through a pet ID tag! What it does is, that if your pet goes missing, it can be identified easily, and the founder will instantly know that the pet has a family. For this purpose, Carlie Leake founded Where My Paws At, an app that aims towards pet safety. Here’s what she discloses about this useful hack to keep your furbaby safe!
“Took 12 Months To Design & Develop Where My Paws At,” Carlie Leake
According to Carlie Leake, the Founder of Where My Paws At, most pet parents aren’t aware there’s no central microchip database here in the UAE. Adding to this, Leake said, “Why that’s important and the impact it has if your pet goes missing or is found, especially if their pet isn’t wearing an ID tag. The current ongoing issue, especially with cats, is they’re being taken from one community and relocated to another, and in some cases, being stolen for illegal breeding. This is the reason why I’ve spent the last 12 months designing and developing Where My Paws At, the 1st pet safety app in the UAE.”
Talking about this pet safety app, Leake mentioned, “A central microchip platform is used by registered vets, charities, and rescuers for free to check microchip details. But we’re more than a microchip platform! Our smart tags link to our app. Each tag comes with a unique QR code that shows important information from your pet’s profile when your tag is scanned. All that’s needed to access this information is a camera phone.”
“Direct Call Function Lets the Finder To Contact Pet Parent Directly”
In fact, there’s a cool way the founder can contact the pet parent! Elaborating on this, she said, “Our direct call function allows the finder to contact you directly and share the exact location with you, which is sent via an app alert and email. The person who finds your pet does not need to have our app for the tag to work. Our tags hold more than just a name and number, they hold important information such as your registered vet, the last 4 digits of your microchip number as well as your pet’s personality traits.”
Stemming from personal experience, she shared, “I never thought my indoor cat Moo would go missing, but he did for 3 days. Now, I make sure both my indoor cats and my dogs always wear their Where My Paws At pet tags.”
Cover Image Courtesy: Internal