Back to all discussions

Manager   •   over 6 years ago

Best Friends Animal Society Challenge + PRFAQ

CHALLENGE

Best Friends Animal Society is seeking to reunite pets lost during a disaster with their families with the help of SNIF (Saving Noses is Fundamental), a new platform that *you* will help build. SNIF should be a mobile-friendly application that makes pet-family reunification possible by empowering pet owners and rescuers to create and access data-rich profiles about cherished animals. SNIF should be easy to use, especially in a high-stress disaster scenario, and built using a constellation of advanced techniques including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics.

PRESS RELEASE

**In the Eye of the Storm**
The Best Friends Animal Society’s new AI-powered SNIF platform makes it easy for rescuers and pet owners to capture data-rich pet profiles, bumping family reunifications from 30% to 90%

Charleston, South Carolina; September 1, 2020 – A week after Hurricane Hanna devastated The South Carolina coast with category 5 winds in excess of 200 miles per hour and up to 20 inches of rain, Best Friends Animal Society, in partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) has brought comfort to many families and pets in the greater Charleston area.
Through a new mobile application, Saving Noses is Fundamental (SNIF), 90% of pets separated from their families have been reunited. That’s up from the 30% from previous disasters before SNIF was available.
SNIF is the result of the efforts of participants in the Hackathon for Good, held at the AWS re:Invent conference in December, 2019. It provides a simple interface for first responders in the field to capture rich data at the point of rescue and enables families to post information about their pets. Making use of innovative technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), SNIF assists shelters and other rescue organizations match found animals with their owners.
“We thought we had lost everything. But getting Duke back has lifted our spirits and given us the energy and hope to recover from Hanna”, said Lauren Johnson, a Charleston mother of 3 and graduate of Duke University for whom she named the family’s 4-year-old German Shepherd. “Duke panicked and ran during the evacuation. When we were forced to leave without him, it was the most devastating moment of the entire ordeal.”
The idea for SNIF emerged from a partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) at the Hackathon for Good held at their re:Invent conference in December, 2019. Hackathon participants developed innovative approaches to identify, track and find pets using advanced artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics techniques — all delivered on a mobile application that simplifies gathering rich data at the point of rescue in a highly stressful environment. Also, SNIF’s open API has made it easy for 3rd party pet care and management tools to integrate with the platform, letting pet families capture data throughout their day-to-day lives that can become critical in a lost pet scenario.
SNIF is a “cloud-native” application running on the AWS cloud. For local shelters and animal rescue organizations, this means that the entire technology stack can be deployed anywhere with one-click, and that the application can scale automatically with usage while keeping costs to a minimum. With the open API and open data standards, the platform can easily integrate with different software applications and data sources, and developers worldwide can build new capabilities and services that work with SNIF to continually improve the Best Friends Animal Society’s mission to Save Them All.
“With SNIF, we are using technology to get better at finding lost pets, but we’re actually doing more than that... we’re creating real societal change in this country... we’re saving these animals, we’re saving ourselves, and by empowering these stories we are on the path to making our country no-kill by 2025.” — Julie Castle, CEO, Best Friends Animal Society

To get started, go to https://snif.bestfriends.org/

FAQ

**Who are the main users of SNIF?**
The two most important groups of people who use SNIF are rescuers and pet owners.
** **
**Is SNIF a mobile app?**
The most important characteristic of SNIF is that it is available as a mobile experience, and by that we mean that it will provide an easy-to-use mobile interface so that both rescuers and pet owners can work in a stressful situation. However, don’t feel constrained by this being a mobile-only application.

**What type of data should be gathered about the animals?**
Any data that will assist with the reunification of pets with their owners. Information that can be invaluable to pet reunification includes breed guess, color, size, sex, circumstances around the rescue, etc. Some examples: If a dog was found at the corner of 4th Ave and Main St., you can make some educated guesses as to its neighborhood.

**How is the data made available?**
Data can be accessed via an API to query based on location found, current location, color(s), sex, time found, etc. The platform should then return a ranked result. There are several existing tools for helping look for a lost animal. Allowing access to SNIF’s data will help consolidate the currently disparate datasets and increase pet reunification.
** **
**Are there other ways to access or input the data?**
Automated SMS or Call Center integrations to help responders collect and easily enter information on lost pets.

**How can I use SNIF to get reunited to my animal?**
By uploading a picture or by submitting information on a form, you’ll be matched with animals that were found after a disaster event. You will get back a ranked result with information about animals including their current location, as well as their current status.

Comments are closed.