If you’re a member of a local community Facebook page or a residents’ WhatsApp security group, you’ve probably seen a notice about a neighbourhood dog on the loose, or a cat that’s disappeared. The network effect of social media has been positively disruptive in quickly spreading the message and helping errant pets find their way home.

However, this litany of lost pet messages clogging up social media caused the team at Empire State to look at the issue through an app development lens to see if there was another solution.