Bucharest association launches app for people caring for stray cats
Last week, the Părinți de Cireșari Association announced the launch of CatChat, an app dedicated to stray cats in Bucharest. Through the app, people can find out whether a cat on the street is already being cared for by someone.
The idea came about when an abandoned cat from a Bucharest neighborhood was treated with antibiotics by members of the association, who later found out that the feline was already being treated for the same condition. After the cat was treated by members of the association, it returned to the yard some time later, wearing a collar around its neck. They put a note on the collar to find out whether the feline had an owner or was being cared for by someone, and the answer came from a neighbor.
“That was when we realized we had a problem: cats roam around the neighborhood, but we, the people, don't really know who takes care of them, or whether anyone takes care of them. That's how CatChat came about,” representatives of the Părinți de Cireșari Association said, cited by Buletin de București.
The app has two functions. The basic one is the PisID function, through which users can register cats in the community and see whether they are already being cared for by someone. Users can also see how many unsterilized cats there are in the community.
The app includes an “identity card” for each cat, containing its identifying features (fur, eyes, age, sterilization status, etc.), while the map shows the cats nearby, with their photos. A missing cat appears with a red alert on the map, and those who see it can report its appearance so that the people searching for it can be contacted. According to association representatives, the project's purpose is to encourage communities to pay more attention to the animals around them and, at the same time, to facilitate communication between the people who care for them.
According to the Părinți de Cireșari Association, the app also has a “less serious” function. More specifically, based on the descriptions entered in PisID, cats have their own “chat,” which operates at night, when people are sleeping. The cats' conversations are fictional, written with AI only from the cats' public profiles, without using users' personal data.
For now, CatChat is available on the App Store for iPhone users. The app is free, without ads and without subscriptions. Moreover, it can be used across the country.
(Photo source: Părinți de Cireșari on Facebook)
